Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 40 Return to Origin
Principal Qiu Shi's gentle voice echoed in the classroom: "The source is the core of our understanding of the Mana ecosystem."

"Simply put, it is an extremely pure life energy that exists in all living things, especially in humans. It forms the cornerstone of our consciousness, emotions, and even life itself..."

“And the Devouring Beasts,” Qiu Shi continued, “their fundamental purpose is to plunder this source substance. They sense the source substance, track it, and ultimately absorb it, transforming it into nutrients for the Mana Flower.”

Hong Kou and Po Xiao listened with exceptional focus.

It turns out that the emotions emitted by humans make the life essence nowhere to hide in front of the Devouring Beasts.

But the lighthouse doesn't seem to have studied these things.
Wait a minute, this seems to overlap with the three laws promulgated by Lord Morgan?

Suppressing the generation of emotions is equivalent to suppressing the source of emotions.
Could it be that Lord Morgan actually knew about these things?

Ulanmaido quietly put the tin can containing mealworms back into her bag. The two falcons quieted down, seemingly listening to the lesson as well.

The little boy next to her raised his hand and asked, "Grandma Principal, why can't they see us anymore after we learn how to return to our origin?"

“Good question, Little Stone.” Qiu Shi nodded approvingly. “That’s the magic of the Return to Origin state. When we enter the Return to Origin state, it’s as if we’re suppressing and extinguishing our vigorous life force.”

“We still exist, breathing, heartbeat, and thinking, but the life essence no longer emanates, like a light that suddenly goes out at night, completely merging into the environment.”

"Therefore, for the Devouring Beasts, who mainly rely on sensing the life essence to lock onto their prey, we are like invisible. This is one of the most important self-protection methods for us to survive in the Mana ecosystem."

"But be careful." Qiu Shi's gaze swept over all the students: "Although re-entering the Origin Realm can be ignored again in front of the Pan-Growth Type Devouring Beast, it's useless for those above the Metamorphosis Type."

"They have acquired intelligence and are able to sense that something is wrong."

Hong Kou and Po Xiao were deeply shocked.

It turns out that the so-called "return to the origin" is not some supernatural invisibility technique, but a state of exquisite control over one's own life essence.

“So,” Qiu Shi concluded, his gaze sweeping over all the students, lingering especially on Hong Kou and Po Xiao.

"Mastering the Return to Origin is not just about avoiding the Devouring Beasts; it's the first step in understanding our own lives and this ecosystem, which requires a lot of practice. Starting today, new students will also join our Return to Origin basic training."

The bell rang at the right time to signal the end of get out of class.

The children cheered and poured out of the classroom. Maiduo carefully carried the two falcons out and placed them on her shoulder, waving to Hongkou: "Sister Hongkou, the Guiyuan class is over in the mining area!"

Maido skipped and hopped away.

Hong Kou and Po Xiao stood up. Hong Kou looked at the densely written words on the notebook and said with a wry smile, "This is even more complicated than the first time I piloted a gravity body."

She took a deep breath, her eyes blazing with determination: "Let's go, Dawn, let's follow them and see what's going on."

The group followed Qiu Shi all the way.

As they passed the training ground, Maido ran up to Ulan Aodeng, who was still supervising the training of the preparatory Awakeners, and handed him two falcons.

"Sweetie, is get out of class over already?" Ao Deng seemed very happy to see Mai Duo.

"Not yet, we're heading to the mining area now. Two new students joined our class today."

After handing the falcon to Aodeng, Maido hurriedly ran off to catch up with the main group.

Hong Kou and Po Xiao followed behind Principal Qiu Shi, walking alongside the excited children as they left the central area where the school was located.

They walked along an uphill slope, where the dense vegetation on both sides gradually thinned out.

Instead, some strange crystals, shimmering with a faint blue light, are embedded in the exposed rock face.

Several large pieces of equipment were drilling into the ground, while all-white robots were collecting marrow crystals with mining tools.

"These robots seem to be products of the old world."

“This blue ore should be what they call marrow crystal,” Dawn whispered to Red. Red nodded, her gaze sweeping over the changes in the surrounding environment.

Ulan Maiduo, who was walking ahead, turned around with a proud smile on her little face: "Sister Hongkou, Brother Poxiao, we're almost there! Today I'll show you inside the 'Big Bone'!"

"A big bone?" Red Collar and Dawn were even more confused.

Just then, the road ahead suddenly opened up, revealing a huge open space.

The sight in the center of the open space made Red Bandit and Dawn freeze in their tracks.

What came into view was not the mine entrance or mine facilities they had imagined.

That's a mountain!

A mountain of bones made of pure white, enormous skeletons!
The enormous skull is half-buried in the ground, with its ferocious jaws wide open, forming a natural, massive entrance that is tens of meters high.

The vertebrae extend upwards segment by segment, supporting a region covered by countless massive ribs intersecting each other.

The ends of the ribs pierced deeply into the surrounding rock walls, as if the remains of this giant beast were completely intertwined with the earth.

“This…this is…” Dawn’s voice was extremely dry, almost speechless.

Even the mutated Devouring Beasts I've seen before weren't this big, let alone this one which is just a skeleton.

Even with such a Devouring Beast, can Dragonbone Village find a way to kill it?

Principal Qiu Shi seemed to have anticipated their reaction, and his gentle voice rang out in the open space, tinged with a hint of pride.

"Welcome to our myelin mining area. This is the value of the metamorphic and above skeletons that you just heard about in class."

"Medullary crystals...are they mined from here?" Red Knuckle's voice trembled slightly.

“Yes, that’s right.” Qiu Shi nodded. “But today I’m not here to teach you about marrow crystals.”

She pointed to a pond not far away. The pond was blue, similar in color to the surrounding myelin crystals, and contained pipes that connected to a head-mounted device at the edge of the pond.

"Emotions generate willpower, willpower inspires potential, and potential drives human evolution."

“But you can’t even feel your own life essence yet, so you need to ‘have emotions’ first.”

Qiu Shi stood by the pond explaining to Hong Kou and the other person, while the children had already familiarized themselves with sitting cross-legged and putting the equipment on their heads.

"The device can help individuals share emotions and feelings through their life essence, thereby helping them to perceive their life essence and control their emotions."

Maido didn't sit cross-legged with the other children, but stood next to Qiushi and added to Hongkou and the other two.

"Life essence generates spiritual energy through emotions."

"Entering the Returning to Origin state means being able to control one's spiritual energy and prevent it from dissipating outwards."

After saying that, Maiduo immediately demonstrated.

Through her skin, one could clearly see that pale red energy was emanating from various parts of Maido's body, rapidly converging towards the top of her head.

After all the energy had gathered, the pale red energy disappeared.

"It feels like nothing has changed?" Hong Kou rubbed her chin, leaned close to Mai Duo's face, and observed carefully.

“My appearance hasn’t changed, of course, but I’m suppressing my emotions in my brain now, so the Devouring Beasts can’t see me.” Maido said smugly, hands on her hips.

"This is the state of returning to the origin."

(End of this chapter)