The Elf King had taken the initiative to request that he provide cultivation techniques for the residents of Elf City, catching Feng Qi completely off guard.
He suddenly didn't know how to respond to this request.
Thinking carefully, the Elf King's reasoning wasn't necessarily from a purely human perspective.
After all, while the introduction of cultivation techniques gave humanity a brand-new path to choose, as long as humans remained under its control, this also gave the Elf King an opportunity to further tap into human potential.
Elf Seeds were the only growth system for humans in the Central Region.
But the drawback was obvious—humans couldn't keep up with the growth pace of the Elf Seed. The final result was inevitable assimilation by the stronger elves, their bodies gradually elfinized.
To delay this elfinization, humans implanted with the Elf Seed needed strong physical bodies.
But the Elf King clearly lacked the ability to provide that.
After all, its Life Furnace could only bestow power upon its own offspring—it couldn't grant itself, or humans, any special abilities.
If humans could cultivate, their importance to the Elf King would increase significantly.
Looking at cultivation techniques from the Elf King's perspective, Feng Qi realized there were many benefits for it.
Although humans couldn't keep pace with the elves' growth, they could be replaced at any time.
But even if the Elf King abandoned humanity and quickly found a suitable new ally, adjusting to a new race would obviously take time. Why not stick with an ally of several hundred years?
If humans could grow alongside them, this was clearly the result the Elf King wanted to see.
Understanding this reasoning, Feng Qi was no longer surprised by the Elf King's request.
Whether from a standpoint of interest or any other angle, promoting cultivation techniques within a controllable range was only beneficial for the Elf King.
At this moment, he looked up at the Elf King, curiosity in his eyes:
"How much do you know about cultivation systems?"
"I've researched them briefly. Since most of the enemies we've faced follow the cultivation system, I've gone through some of their techniques. But none of them were compatible with human physiology, and I don't know how to develop cultivation methods, so I only have a superficial understanding."
Feng Qi nodded.
"Handing over the Eastern Region's cultivation techniques to the humans in Elf City isn't a problem. We're all human, and there's no physical barrier to sharing the same growth system. What I'm more curious about is—how do you plan to deal with An Mu?"
Feng Qi hadn't wanted to ask this question, but he couldn't avoid it.
He'd read about An Mu in the encyclopedia.
The book called An Mu the Child of the Elves—the most perfect seed among those birthed by the Elf King.
It wasn't implanted into any human, but instead, was placed at the center of a newly planned city in the Central Region, becoming the core of the city, similar to how the Elf King functioned.
That city was known as An Mu City.
Its primary function was to expand the territory of humans in the Central Region. It was the most important city pushing northward and had become the second major city for humans in that region.
Over the years, with Elf City's support, An Mu City had grown rapidly.
The image of An Mu in the book showed a black trunk, with a dark red line extending from its center to the branches. This blend of colors gave off a domineering, fierce aura completely different from the Elf King.
By now, An Mu City had become the Central Region's most important battle city.
Compared to the peaceful life in Elf City, An Mu City faced the challenges of domain fields directly, and its people were much more rugged.
Knowing the Elf King had plans for An Mu, Feng Qi couldn't help but think of a problem.
He didn't care about the war between the Elf King and An Mu, nor who won or lost.
What mattered was the role humans would play in this conflict.
If the truth was that humans were the main force in this war, while the Elf King and An Mu manipulated everything from behind the scenes, then humanity would be nothing more than a sacrifice in their struggle.
He didn't want that to happen.
He didn't care who became the core of a human city, but it must not harm humanity.
Yet Feng Qi also understood his thoughts were too idealistic. If the Elf King and An Mu truly went to war, humanity would inevitably be involved.
The reason he now asked the Elf King about its plans for An Mu was to understand its true intentions.
Faced with his question, the Elf King was silent for a moment, then spoke:
"I know what you're thinking. You seem to believe that my conflict with An Mu will drag humans into it."
"Isn't that true?"
"So what if it is?" The Elf King's tone suddenly hardened, its gaze locking onto Feng Qi, filled with dominance.
Feng Qi instantly felt a surge of killing intent crash over him, like waves pounding his body again and again.
He didn't respond, locking eyes with the Elf King without flinching, a smile creeping onto his face.
"I don't really have a say in anything."
Hearing this, the Elf King suddenly retracted its aura, smiling and shaking its head.
"Don't misunderstand. I was just testing you. I've noticed you seem very concerned about the current state of the humans in the Central Region. I'm curious—what exactly are your thoughts on them?"
"Nothing much. In a chaotic world, we're all human. Deep down, I still hope human civilization can survive. Maybe one day, it'll join forces with the humans of the Eastern Region."
After that, Feng Qi continued asking:
"Back to the earlier topic—if you clash with An Mu, will humans get dragged into this war?"
The Elf King was silent for a moment, then shook its head.
"I don't know either. But the chances of them staying out of it are very low. What I can promise is this—if An Mu doesn't use humans against me, I absolutely won't use humans to fight him. This is a war between me and him."
Hearing this, Feng Qi's face grew serious.
It really would be hard for humans to stay out of this war.
An Mu's situation reminded him of the previous owner of the Sacred Spirit Consciousness Vault—a powerful race known as the Tian Duo Clan.
With the Sacred Spirit Consciousness Vault's vast inheritance and learning capabilities, at its peak, this clan was a dominating force ruling over multiple small worlds. They weren't just one of those clans that ruled over layer worlds, but a truly supreme power.
But this clan had dabbled in something forbidden—Chimera.
Chimera were made by piecing together the best genes from various life forms to create a kind of demon.
With a mix of top-tier genes, Chimera had almost no weaknesses and tremendous growth potential.
This project was ranked among the top taboos of the Tian Duo Clan.
At first, their idea was simple—they wanted to cultivate these Chimera for use in wars.
But in the end, it led directly to their downfall.
After the Chimera were created, they were exactly what the Tian Duo Clan hoped for—a secret weapon.
But when they went to war with another superpower, they were completely overwhelmed, losing most of their territory and suffering heavy losses.
At their weakest, the Chimera, now fully sentient, bared their fangs.
The Tian Duo Clan's decline wasn't caused by them, but their destruction definitely was.
Chimera couldn't be killed easily. Every single cell could become a new body. The more they devoured, the stronger they grew, and they became the final straw that broke the clan.
And so, the mighty Tian Duo Dynasty was no more.
The Elf King's thinking was eerily similar to the Tian Duo Clan.
With its Life Furnace, the Elf King knew its growth potential was limited, so it wanted to use the power of Miracles to create a divine civilization and push the elf race to the top.
But during the creation process, just like the Tian Duo Clan, it forgot one thing—
How to control the new life it had created.
An Mu, just like the Chimera, had its own intelligence.
Intelligence leads to thought.
And with thought comes the question—why should I obey my creator?
When thoughts change, disaster can follow.
Now, the Elf King had reached this point. An Mu had developed its own will, wanting to break free from its control, even trying to seize the Life Furnace inside the Elf King.
Compared to the Tian Duo Clan, the Elf King's situation was worse.
The Tian Duo Clan declined due to war, but when they were strong, even if the Chimera had thoughts, they didn't dare act. Back then, the clan was too powerful, and the demons knew rebellion meant death.
So, only when the clan was completely weakened did the demons strike.
If not for that war, the Tian Duo Clan probably could've kept them in check.
But the Elf King was different.
It didn't have that kind of overwhelming power. Its growth potential was far behind An Mu's. Being surpassed was just a matter of time.
From the start, the Elf King had trapped itself in a dead-end.
If An Mu really did challenge it in the future, the Elf King's chances of losing were high.
No matter how powerful the Life Furnace was as a Miracle artifact, its role was purely support—it couldn't boost the Elf King's strength.
It was practically a deadlock.
One it had dug for itself.
Now, An Mu controlled the strongest human battle city, and its growth potential crushed the Elf King's. Taking back control would be insanely difficult.
No wonder the Elf King was desperate to find a way to advance its life form, to leap forward, to gain greater growth potential than An Mu.
But changing one's life form was insanely difficult.
Across so many timelines, only the Psionic Race had managed to do it.
The path laid out by Ling Zhan, the ancestor of the Psionic Race, was refined by later generations, and now they had already achieved partial energy transformation of their bodies, aiming for full energy transformation in the future.
But to turn a plant body into one of flesh and blood—he felt that was even more complicated than turning flesh into energy.
Feng Qi thought the Elf King's idea was bold, but it would most likely fail.
Thinking about it now, it seemed like the Elf King losing to An Mu was already set in stone.
Too bad he hadn't gotten info on this in any of the future timelines before. Otherwise, he could've known how the war between the Elf King and An Mu ended straight from the future.
From all the intel he had now, the chance of the Elf King pulling off a comeback was really low.
Just then, the Elf King's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Guest, could you show me your cultivation technique?"
Feng Qi looked up at the curious Elf King and nodded right away. After thinking for a bit, he started performing Tiger Fist.
He'd already thought about which cultivation techniques to teach the humans in the Central Region.
Building up physical strength would definitely be their top priority.
That directly affected how fast they'd be assimilated by the elves.
So he decided to first teach them body-refining techniques.
Normally, cultivation should go step by step, starting with foundational exercises.
Jumping straight into something as fierce as Tiger Fist would overload the body.
But the humans here were different—they couldn't be viewed the same as those from the Eastern Region.
With Elf Seeds implanted, they had insanely strong healing, and their physical strength was already several times higher than Eastern humans. Jumping straight into Tiger Fist wouldn't be a problem—they could totally skip the basics.
As Feng Qi performed Tiger Fist, the Elf King's pupils turned golden.
Through its vision, Feng Qi's body became transparent, and it saw the spiritual energy in the air flowing into his body with each breath and move, rushing through him, merging into his limbs and bones.
When Feng Qi finished the whole Tiger Fist routine, the Elf King couldn't help but nod excitedly.
"This is exactly what I need, what humans need—a new growth system. It can slow down their elfinization. As long as their physical strength keeps up, they won't have to fear being assimilated anymore."
Seeing the Elf King so hyped, Feng Qi smiled and nodded.
No matter what the future held, at least things looked good right now.
With a cultivation system, even if humans in the Central Region were abandoned, at least they'd have the power to resist. Their value in the Elf King's eyes would also rise a lot.
As for solving the Elf King and An Mu problem, he hadn't come up with anything yet.
They talked for a few more hours about cultivation techniques, then the golden glow in front of Feng Qi faded.
Through cultivation, he had realized this golden scene wasn't an illusion—it was actually a space inside the Elf King's body.
When his figure reappeared on the golden platform, he suddenly felt something tighten around his neck. Looking down, he saw two small hands wrapped around it from behind, squeezing tighter and tighter.
Realizing it was Xiao You, Feng Qi relaxed at once.
"Waaah, Boss, you're finally back! Xiao You thought you disappeared!"
Hearing Xiao You bawling behind him, Feng Qi couldn't help but feel helpless.
He got it.
After all, Xiao You hadn't left his side for decades. No matter how bad things got, she was always there. Suddenly being apart for hours clearly made her feel seriously threatened.
He reached back, pulled Xiao You in front of him, and saw her crying with snot and tears streaming down.
Feng Qi couldn't help but laugh.
"Boss!"
"Yeah, I'm here."
Hearing him respond, Xiao You suddenly broke into a smile, then wiped her snot and tears all over Feng Qi's wrist.
His smile froze right away.
...
Meanwhile, inside the Elf King's body—
In the vast golden sea, the old man's body slowly twisted and turned into a golden sapling.
Golden waves surged, and a huge golden egg floated up from below.
The Elf King's consciousness stretched out its branches, wrapping around the golden egg.
The power of the Life Furnace appeared, and fierce flames lit up on the surface of the golden egg.
There was one thing it hadn't told Feng Qi.
Besides changing its life form, it had left itself a backup plan.
The Life Furnace's power had to start from rebirth. It couldn't grant itself any abilities.
But if it came to a dead end, it still had one path left.
Even if everything started over, it would be reborn.