Being simple-minded was not entirely a bad thing; simple-minded people were remarkably effective at withstanding spiritual attacks.
Lu Yang was quite skeptical whether he could even harm Man Gu with spiritual attacks when he was bolstered by his ancestors.
When ordinary cultivators countered spiritual attacks, it was a direct clash of head-on force to see whose spiritual energy was stronger and who applied it better.
Simple-minded people were different. They were like bundles of cotton, easily cushioning the spiritual impact.
From its description, Man Gu's Nascent Soul sounded formidable, but in actual practice it suffered from a major flaw: Man Gu couldn't recognize all his ancestors.
This was not Man Gu's fault. Given the cultural level of the Ancient Barbarian race, portraits rarely survived; those that did exist were only because someone had happened to run into a passing cultivator of the Dao of Painting.
Thus, Man Gu could remember the distinctive traits of all his ancestors, but he could never match them to their actual faces. Using his Nascent Soul came with enormous uncertainty.
"This ancestor's true name has been lost to the sands of time, but his deeds have been passed down. Legend says that although this ancestor was simple-minded, he possessed incredible luck. Even if his actions completely contradicted his original goal, he would still somehow reach his destination."
"Furthermore, this ancestor once touched upon the Dao of Life. It's truly a shame that just as he was about to comprehend it, he was interrupted."
Man Gu's eyes were filled with reverence. This was one of the earliest Ancient Barbarians, who had followed an ancient immortal; his status in the Barbarian clan went without saying.
"Fairy, do you know the ancestor Man Gu is worshiping?"
Lu Yang gave the Immortal Fairy a suspicious look, wondering if this ancestor—whose Nascent Soul looked in such a hurry to grow old—had been among her very first victims.
"Man Ergou! Oh, I know him well. That lad listened to my lectures with utmost dedication. When asking questions after class, he'd ask things like why demons don't wear clothes in their original beast forms, but have to put on clothes after shapeshifting. His attitude toward learning was leaps and bounds ahead of the other barbarians."
"He just suffered from a congenital lack of intellect and talent, so he could never reach this immortal's heights." The Immortal Fairy shook her head in regret. He had been a student she thought very highly of; his talent was simply lacking, and even sheer diligence couldn't make up for it.
*He really was a victim,* Lu Yang thought to himself.
"That lad got lost all the time. Once, he tried to fly back to the barbarian lands, but flew in the exact opposite direction. He ended up flying a full circle around the North Star before making it back, and was late for class."
"He took to heart what I taught in class about cultivators needing a pioneering spirit of exploration, so he insisted on taking a few gulps from the Child-and-Mother River to see if he could get pregnant. Qing He, who was nearby, had to stop him and send him packing back to his tribe."
"Another time, he accidentally wandered into a pond. A female cultivator happened to be bathing there, and he caught a glimpse of her. She screamed and refused to let him off, demanding compensation from Ergou. Then two male cultivators jumped out from the side, claiming that unless an explanation was given today, this matter wouldn't end."
"Ergou had never encountered such a situation and was at a complete loss for a moment. Luckily, he remembered this immortal's teachings: one must be fair in life—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and there is no greater virtue than correcting one's mistakes."
"And then?"
"Then he said, 'I looked at your body, so if you look at my body too, that makes us even!' And with that, he started stripping off his clothes."
"Those three didn't know what was good for them. Seeing that Ergou wasn't going to cough up spirit stones, they swarmed him to rob him, only to be completely thrashed by Ergou."
Lu Yang: "..."
This Ancient Barbarian ancestor was truly wild.
"Why are you all here? Having a get-together without inviting me?"
Meng Jingzhou walked boisterously into the barbecue shop, looking as relaxed as if he were strolling into his own home.
He had happened to pass by the barbecue shop and was craving a bite. The moment he stepped inside, he saw the trio of Lu Yang and company along with Man Gu's Nascent Soul, and froze in shock.
"Good grief, Junior Brother Man, your Nascent Soul looks quite mature."
*And it doesn't look like you at all.*
Meng Jingzhou had to exert serious effort to bottle up the second half of his thought.
Man Gu put away his Nascent Soul, finished off the grilled skewers that had been offered to his ancestor, and explained the origin of his Nascent Soul, leaving Meng Jingzhou marveling in amazement.
"Borrowing ancestral power... As expected of the last Ancient Barbarian, blessed by your bloodline. What a distinctive Nascent Soul! Junior Brother Man, at this rate I reckon you'll surpass Lu Yang in no time and become the world's second-strongest Nascent Soul stage cultivator."
Lu Yang shot Meng Jingzhou a sidelong glance. "And who would be the world's strongest Nascent Soul stage cultivator?"
Meng Jingzhou pointed at himself and said as if it were obvious, "Me, of course."
"Aren't you at the Dual Nascent Soul stage? Why are you pretending to be in the Nascent Soul stage?"
Meng Jingzhou flared up in anger. *Lu Yang, you tactless punk! If the Phoenix Ancestor weren't sitting right here, I'd have had a proper scrap with you!*
Although Lu Yang was also at the Dual Nascent Soul stage, nobody knew about it, so he could shamelessly pretend to be a standard Nascent Soul cultivator to his heart's content.
"Dual Nascent Soul stage?" Man Gu racked his memory of cultivation lore, unable to find any such realm.
"Old Meng started the trend. He has two Nascent Souls."
"Two Nascent Souls?!" This time, it was Man Gu's turn to be flabbergasted. He had never heard of such a thing, nor had history ever recorded a cultivator having dual Nascent Souls.
Pioneering a precedent—that was Brother Meng's true greatness!
Man Gu had been learning from Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou for two years now. Even today, he still felt that the ocean of learning was boundless, and that the depth of knowledge and brilliant ideas possessed by these two senior brothers represented a realm he could never attain in a lifetime.
One had to keep learning as long as one lived.
Just as Meng Jingzhou was about to get mad again to make his stance clear, Lu Yang seized the opportunity to cut in on his thoughts.
"Two months have passed, so your realm should be stable now. Is there anything special about having two Nascent Souls?"
Sure enough, the moment cultivation was mentioned, Meng Jingzhou's attention shifted. Chuckling, he replied:
"Huge gains. Let me demonstrate."
Smiling smugly, Meng Jingzhou channeled his two Nascent Souls. Two fair, chubby babies appeared, perching on his shoulders, looking identical to Meng Jingzhou in his childhood.
"Fuse!"
Meng Jingzhou gave a low shout. The boundaries between the two Nascent Souls and Meng Jingzhou blurred, gradually merging into one.
Two large bulges swelled from Meng Jingzhou's neck, and two large bulges sprouted under each armpit.
"Hah!"
With a surge of exertion from Meng Jingzhou, the bulges on his neck transformed into two heads, and four arms sprouted from beneath his armpits.
"Just learned it, still not quite used to it. Heh-heh, how's that?"
"Holy crap, Three Heads and Six Arms?!" Lu Yang was truly stunned. This was the technique of every body cultivator's dreams. As far as he knew, in the Body Integration stage, only a select few cultivators like the Third Elder could pull off this move; beyond that, only those in the Tribulation Transcendence stage could wield it.
And that was when guided by predecessors! Meng Jingzhou had managed to learn it completely on his own without a master, practically making him an originator. His talent and comprehension were astonishing, second only to his own.
Wasn't this vastly more impressive than his own Invincible Nascent Soul?
The Immortal Fairy patted her chest in assurance. "If you can defeat your Invincible Nascent Soul, I guarantee it'll fight far more fiercely than his Three Heads and Six Arms."
Jiang Lianyi was slightly surprised as well. *Was this the talent gained in exchange for staying single?*
*The human race is truly formidable. No wonder only one of the ancient immortals belonged to the demon race.*
Among all the demon paragons at the founding ceremony, not a single one possessed such talent.
Noticing Lu Yang's expression, Meng Jingzhou puffed up with pride, secretly gloating.
Man Gu genuinely felt that Meng Jingzhou was amazing, offering heartfelt praise:
"Twins really are built different."
Chapter 636