"A monster?" Shen Qian frowned. "How so?"

“He is not exactly a pure human being,” Shi Dingyan uttered.

"Not a pure human being?"

Shen Qian was somewhat stunned. "What is that?"

"You must understand that before the spiritual energy revived and martial arts were widely popularized among humans, there was a difficult period of time."

Recalling the past, Shi Dingyan sighed, "It seems that modern human civilization began to be rebuilt more than two hundred years ago, but in fact, it was only a little over a hundred years ago that everything truly settled down."

"Ten gates open?"

Shen Qian has been particularly attentive to history lessons lately. When he heard about something that happened more than a hundred years ago, he couldn't help but think of another event that wasn't recorded in the regular textbooks.

One hundred and twelve years ago, the seven stars aligned, and ten gates opened, plunging humanity into a great crisis.

According to Qu Bai, it was from that time that Zhulong appeared in the sight of humans.

"Yes, around that time."

Shi Dingyan nodded, "But before that, martial arts were not what they are today. There were many schools of thought, not only ancient martial arts families active outside, but also ancient schools, and Taoism and Buddhism were mixed together. In short, back then there was even great debate about whether to cultivate the physical body first or build up the spirit first..."

What caused the chaos?

The textbooks have mentioned academic irregularities, but they haven't described them in great detail, Shen Qian asked curiously upon hearing this.

"That goes back to the beginning of the spiritual energy revival, Junior Brother. Have you ever thought that at the very beginning of the spiritual energy revival, there were hardly any martial artists on Earth? Even if there were some reclusive individuals, their cultivation levels wouldn't be very high in an environment like Earth where spiritual energy is scarce..."

"How did Earth overcome the initial crisis back then?"

Shi Dingyan waved his hand, beckoning Shen Qian to sit down by the river, and opened a jar of wine to pour a glass for each of them.

Shen Qian glanced at Shi Dingyan with surprise.

Why has Third Senior Brother started drinking so much? That night on the rooftop could be considered an occasional occurrence, but this subconscious behavior today can only mean that Third Senior Brother has been drinking a lot lately.

However, Shen Qian did not ask any further questions, but instead pondered Shi Dingyan's problem.

Today, we can see the essence of things through the few words in textbooks.

The spiritual energy revival actually occurred after that mysterious comet passed by Earth, or rather, when Earth was originally unable to generate spiritual energy, there was a dimensional collapse first, that is, the appearance of the "gate", and then the spiritual energy revival happened.

So here's the question.

The appearance of the "gate" meant the invasion of alien creatures. At that time, Earth, which had almost no martial artists, had no way to resist.

"Hot weapons?"

After much thought, it seemed that only this answer was somewhat plausible.

"I guess I got a small portion right."

Shi Dingyan didn't seem surprised by Shen Qian's answer, nodding slightly and saying, "For most carbon-based life forms, thermal weapons are quite effective, not to mention that humans used devastating nuclear weapons back then..."

"Well, the reason why the restricted area became like this later is also directly related to this."

“But for creatures at a certain level, this might not work,” Shen Qian replied thoughtfully.

Let's take my current level of power before sinking and the AK47, the king of rifles before the cataclysm, as examples.

The AK47 can penetrate a 6mm steel plate at a range of about 100 meters. Its resistance to impact, if all buffs are activated, is about the same as a full-force attack from the "Four Heavens" level without any damage.

The instantaneous explosive force of the four layers of mountains and seas is at least tens of thousands of kilograms, equivalent to a 300-ton excavator digging at full power. Let alone a 6mm steel plate, even a 6-meter steel plate would be torn with a large hole.

This calculation means that before sinking, one could walk through a hail of AK-47 bullets without getting hurt.

But all of this depends on the bullet hitting him.

The strength of warriors in the mountains and seas is not just in their physical power.

There are also all sorts of fancy spells, powerful psionic equipment, and almost predictive mental perception.

Let's take another extreme example.

To hit Zhongshan and Haikou with a nuclear bomb, it would have to be a sweeping attack, but the cost would be enormous, and it's debatable how much damage it would inflict on the enemy and how much on the Chinese side.

Going further up, you reach the top level of mountains and seas.

Even now, the gap between those who have attained enlightenment and those who are still immersed in the seas is enormous.

A top-tier expert like Tantai Qin possesses destructive power comparable to a nuclear bomb, and it can be launched instantly and in rapid succession. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to wipe out an entire "family" single-handedly.

As for kings and nobles, they are not even within the scope of this discussion.

When the Great Elder Gao Bu seized the Heavenly Formation, he grabbed the Milky Way with one hand, a scene that almost overturned everyone's expectations.

If the legendary immortals and gods really exist, this is probably what they are like.

"Indeed, although humanity has made remarkable achievements in technology, individuals are too weak. In the vast galaxy, technology is certainly not the only force that can be called an advanced civilization."

Shi Dingyan confirmed Shen Qian's conjecture.

"How exactly did the first batch of pioneer warriors develop?"

Shen Qian asked curiously, "Logically speaking, they shouldn't have much time."

"Is it possible that there is actually another group of people?" Shi Dingyan said softly.

"Another group of people?" Shen Qian was taken aback.

“You can call them ‘ancient martial artists’,” Shi Dingyan said casually. “The period when they were active was roughly the same as the thousands of years during which feudal dynasties were active in Chinese history.”

"But Third Senior Brother, didn't you just say that given the environment of Earth before the spiritual energy revival, it would be impossible for high-level martial artists to exist..."

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