There is a world of difference between humans and weapons.

Compared to blades forged from iron and steel, the flesh and blood of the human body are indeed too fragile. You don’t even need metal to pierce it; a sharp wooden stick, if wielded with enough force, can easily pierce human flesh. This is why people need to use weapons in battle: weapons are more effective than the human body, and unlike the fragile human body, it is more acceptable for a weapon to suffer wear and tear.

However, weapons themselves are not without flaws.

"Three more of our people have been captured."

Outside the prison, a burly man frowned deeply.

"When they were transferring, they were found carrying daggers, and those dogs had them captured... Those Yu dogs are truly vicious!"

"Being caught by the Yu dogs is as good as being dead; even if they don’t die, they end up betraying us to save their own lives."

Standing in front of the burly man, a sinister-looking man shook his head repeatedly.

"Do not underestimate our enemies. They know exactly how to target us... So, do you still oppose me doing that thing?"

"You... forget it, do as you will."

With those words, the two men simultaneously turned their heads toward the cage.

Under the gaze of these two men, Du Chengfeng felt a chill all over his body. It wasn’t a look directed at a human but rather more like an object.

Or perhaps, a consumable.

The conversation between the two men made no pretense of being out of his earshot. Clearly, in their eyes, the body he was currently experiencing, and the other children in the cage, were no different than tables or chairs, objects of no significant consequence. No one doubts whether an oil lamp would eavesdrop, much less the children including himself, all of whom could only lie there, unable to utter a single word.

However, precisely because of this, Du Chengfeng, from his perspective, heard more unspeakable information.

The two men, and the others outside the prison, were remnants of the old Chu who once lived here. After the rise of the Yu dynasty and the decline of the old Chu, the literati of the Great Yu began a thorough purge of the last vestiges of the previous dynasty, granting them no opportunity whatsoever — as for the method of the purge, it wasn’t hard. All they needed to do was target the source of the Chu people’s strength.

Therefore, after the literati reached a consensus, this emerging Great Yu began the knife ban decree.

Apart from the official imperial bodies, common folk were forbidden from possessing weapons. Any violations were dealt with as remnants of the previous dynasty. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

While this prohibition sparked much controversy, at least regarding its outcomes, it hit the old Chu remnants’ weaknesses accurately. Deprived of their vicious weapons, they lost nearly all their prowess, and they couldn’t actually bear arms, because the literati aimed to force these hidden remnants of the old Chu out into the open.

The options were either to fight desperately and face inevitable death and the annihilation of their kin under the encirclement of masters or to abandon their weapons, their strength, and persistence, losing that extraordinary ability and blending in with the common people.

This was the path the Yu dynasty left for the remnants of Chu: whichever path was chosen signified the complete ruin of old Chu.

But there was one thing the literati of the Yu dynasty overlooked.

Unwilling to resign, the remnants of the old Chu embarked on a third path, one that transcended the logic itself.

The children in this cage were the experimenters of this path. With no way out, the remnants of old Chu eventually set their sights on accomplishing what even their ancestors hadn’t achieved—tempering the body with Evil Qi, making the flesh and blood a weapon, breaking through the limits of the flesh, thereby realizing the Secret Technique of ascension to become an Immortal.

"After all, our predecessors achieved it; they forged the overlord halberd that could even be concealed inside the host’s body, proving that whether it be weapons, the human body, or even Evil Qi itself, contain numerous uncharted territories."

The sinister-faced man once proclaimed his grand ambitions in front of the cage, and likewise, these words were not hidden from the children in the cage.

Because there was no need.

The children in the cage were as silent as death, including the perspective Du Chengfeng was currently experiencing, that of the Southern Chen’s first ancestor himself—of course, at this moment, the child hardly qualified as the Southern Chen’s first ancestor, for he had no name, not even a number.

Simply because there were too few children in the cage.

The number was too small, and dwindling; after all, Evil Qi is extremely dangerous even for adults, let alone young children—but soon, Du Chengfeng realized that these children might not be as simple as they appeared on the surface.

They may not even be considered human.

Not merely referring to their treatment, but literally not human, until Du Chengfeng saw with his own eyes when this ancestor of Southern Chen was brought into the dissection room; he finally understood the deranged acts these Chu people committed.

It is widely known that when guided by Evil Qi, one often becomes a barbaric monster, losing their sanity, but precisely these ruthless monsters, obsessed only with slaughter, could grow unburdened under the nourishment of Evil Qi—and the Chu people, who mastered the use of Evil Qi most profoundly, naturally discovered this fact.

Thus, after countless failed attempts, the desperate Chu people turned their gaze upon these monsters.