Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"I believe the first Azure Dragon was a male dragon that mated with most likely a demon of this world. It is very difficult for interspecies conception to occur, but not impossible," Bai Jingshen explained.

"But… it doesn't make sense physiologically, does it? I mean a beast and a human…" Alex hesitated to continue.

"It doesn't make sense if the beast is a beast," Bai Jingshen said. "In fact, it is pretty much impossible. However, what if the beast were not a beast?"

"… What?" Alex asked with a confused look.

"What if the beast were a human?" Bai Jingshen asked. "You do know what a beast can do when they reach the Immortal realm, right?"

"Oh… right," Alex thought. "So the Azure dragon turned to a human and had a child with a demon of this realm, and that was the first Dragon Emperor?"

"That is correct," Bai Jingshen said.

"Was the Dragon Emperor a human because his mother was a human?" Alex asked. "What if the genders were reversed and it was an Azure Dragon that gave birth to a human's child?"

"The child would still be a human," Bai Jingshen said. "They would have part of the beast's bloodline in them all the same. Actually, they are quite common in the Immortal realms since the distinction between a beast and a human gets muddled quite often due to everyone being able to take a human form whenever they want to. In fact, even plants can have children with humans or beasts, so long as they turn to a human."

"Plants can have children with beasts? And their children would be what?" Alex asked. "Plant or beast?"

Bai Jingshen chuckled. "A human," he said.

"Huh?" Alex was confused once again. "Why a human? None of the child's parents is a human."

"Oh, they are," Bai Jingshen said. "Any plant that manages to reach the Immortal realm after cultivating can permanently turn to a human if they chose to. Unlike beasts, there is no going back once they do so. Since at that point they are basically a human, their child would also be a human."

"Do you have any idea why the child is always a human?" Alex asked.

"Heaven's will," Bai Jingshen shrugged.

"We don't really know the reason, just that it is how it goes all the time," Scarlet said. "Of course, they are not fully human. Most of those children actually have the capabilities of half transforming into what their other half is."

Alex was curious to learn more about it all, as the more he learned, the more knowledge seemed to be unlocking in his mind from his medical information base that was locked behind the Alchemy God's intent.

"What about two beasts? What if one of the parents takes a human form?" Alex asked.

"In a beast's case, even if they take human form, they still end up giving birth to a beast," Bai Jingshen said. "Basically, a human child is born every time there is a human involved. Whether that human is a human, a demon, or a transformed plant, it doesn't matter."

"So the beasts have no benefits when mating in human form, do they?" Alex asked.

"There is a small one," Bai Jingshen said. "You've seen my wives. Can you tell what's common about them?"

"Common?" Alex thought for a bit. "The fact that they are all felines?"

"Exactly," Bai Jingshen said. "The reason they are all felines is that they are the closest in bloodline to the White Tiger and can  thus potentially carry down the bloodline by giving birth to an actual White Tiger."

"If I were to marry anyone else that is not similar in species to me, the chances of me passing down my bloodline becomes basically zero," he said. "However, I could increase the chance, even if by a little bit, if I were to become a human. That is one advantage, however infinitesimal, that beasts have if they become human."

"As he said, it's infinitesimal so it's not even that useful," Scarlet said. "It's not that you can't have children if two beasts aren't close in species, just that their children would be incredibly mediocre and most likely wouldn't carry the bloodline of either parent. So, it's always better to just find someone from your own species."

"I see," Alex said. He had learned quite a lot today that he hadn't even expected to learn. "So the first Dragon Emperor, he isn't a half-Azure Dragon, is he?"

"No, it would be a big deal if he was, since he would be the first human to hold the bloodline of one of the Heavenly beasts," Bai Jingshen said. "He would be no different from you, who until now held the White Tiger's bloodline."

"His case is different, isn't it?" Scarlet asked. "He didn't absorb the White Tiger's blood, but only made use of it."

"He was a step away from absorbing it," Bai Jingshen said. "If not, he wouldn't have been able to make use of the White Tiger's Dominating Body that Pearl cultivated."

"I see," Scarlet thought.

Alex remained there, thinking for a bit. A few footsteps appeared from nearby as a couple of folks walked out.

Hao Ya and Liz walked beside the 2nd and 3rd wives of Bai Jingshen.

"Oh, you guys are out?" Alex asked. "How's the formation?"

"Terrible," Hao Ya said. "It's a good formation, but the way it's set up is going to take me a bit to make it work with the formation back at Master's place. It will only be afterward that I can even start testing if they can communicate with each other or not."

"How long will that take?" Alex asked.

"As soon as I can get my hands on a few things. I came here to request senior to help me find these things," Hao Ya handed over a talisman to Bai Jingshen.

Bai Jingshen shook his head and one of his wives took it instead. "Forgive me, but my husband doesn't like reading," she said. "Should I do as she says?"

"Is there anything in there that's hard to get?" Bai Jingshen asked.

The snow leopard read through the list and nodded. "Everything is available in the treasury and isn't of much value either," she said.

"Give it to her then," Bai Jingshen said.

"As you command, my lord," the snow leopard said and walked away with her sister.

"Do you still need me?" Liz asked.

"It's probably better if you don't help me right now and instead save it for the test later," Hao Ya said. "I will need quite a bit of time to just think what to do and that will cause you to unnecessarily exhaust yourself. Don't worry, I can complete this in a week, and then you can be of help."

"Okay," Liz said.

"Oh, if you don't need her, then can she leave with me?" Alex asked. "Aunt Liz, it turns out my mother is already where father and the rest went to. If we go there, we can meet her today."

"Really? You already know where she is?" Liz asked in surprise.

Alex nodded. "We should leave as soon as we can."