"Mo Peidong?"
When this na was spoken by Wang Jun, everyone in the laboratory froze.
Unlike the previously unnoticed Wu Fan, this na wasn't unfamiliar to everyone, in fact, it could be said to be very familiar.
Because just five or six hours ago, they had co into contact with this na:
The dagger inside the skeletal spatial bag had the engraving 'Mo Peidong' as a gift.
According to the Mo Family Tree, Mo Peidong was a Foundation Establishnt Realm second-layer cultivator with three spiritual roots and had an incredibly close and trusting uncle-nephew relationship with Mo Shaonan, the third ancestor of the Mo Clan.
To use a contemporary example, it would be like Wei Fan and Wei Niandong; if Wei Niandong were moved from the side branch to the main line, they could be said to be exactly like Mo Peidong and Mo Shaonan.
According to the genealogy records, during a wilderness expedition, they encountered a beast tide, and to cover Mo Shaonan and other juniors' escape, Mo Peidong even used himself as bait, ultimately perishing.
Lin Li and others had sighed over this record.
No matter how depraved a clan might be, there are still so human flashes of goodness among its mbers.
Although compared to the heinous acts of the Mo Family, which seed like a dark night sky, these flashes were sparse like lone stars.
But factually, they indeed existed, one could say they were the only traces of humanity.
However, looking back now...
It seems there is a problem sowhere?
Due to the serious implications of the identity of the Mo Clan's third ancestor, Lin Li didn't dare to be careless and asked Wang Jun seriously:
"Researcher Wang, what exactly do you an by this?
How can the body indeed be that of the Mo Clan's third ancestor, but in reality, it is Mo Peidong?"
He then thought of a possibility and asked:
"Could it be that the one who actually fell in the beast tide was Mo Shaonan, and Mo Peidong took over Mo Shaonan's identity afterward?
But that couldn't be right... Mo Peidong's aptitude was the common three spiritual roots, whereas Mo Shaonan had a top-tier mutated gold-earth dual spiritual roots aptitude.
This difference in aptitude... It's impossible that after several decades, no one checked Mo Shaonan's aptitude, right?"
Wang Jun pondered for a mont, pursed his lips, and said:
"Academician Lin, the situation might be more complicated than you think...
Let first tell you the results of the technical analysis.
We tested the skeletal bone age and found it had fallen about two hundred and ten years ago, with a death age of approximately eighty-six years.
Combining its bone density with remnants of a third-tier demon beast, we can basically determine it to be a Core Formation Realm cultivator—at this stage, the bone density and quality, be it for a cultivator or a demon beast, is far higher than ordinary people.
Additionally, we found a slightly viable bit of bone marrow inside its spine, not much, but enough for testing.
Though we don't yet understand how the marrow remained active for so long, a Core Formation Realm cultivator is beyond ordinary humans, so so physical anomalies are acceptable.
We conducted a kinship analysis comparing this bone marrow with the blood of Mo Lisen and others. By comparing the X chromoso gene locus information, we confird a certain blood relation.
Moreover, when this skeleton first reached the camp, we asked President Qiangsheng for identification, and he confird that the bones were the remains of a gold-earth dual spiritual roots cultivator.
That is to say, this body belongs to Mo Shaonan, and there's no doubt about it."
Upon hearing this, Lin Li's face grew even more bewildered:
"Researcher Wang, then how do you say his true identity is Mo Peidong?"
Wang Jun's aning was clear, there was no replacent situation with the skeleton.
Unless there was another fifth-layer Core Formation Realm mutated gold-earth dual spiritual root cultivator in the Mo Family, it must be Mo Shaonan, no doubt.
Hearing Lin Li's question, a very strange expression appeared on Wang Jun's face, and he said:
"...because our other analyses revealed that there is a significant discrepancy between this skeleton and the characteristics Mo Shaonan was supposed to have.
Let start with one thing... Do you rember the records of Mo Shaonan's weapon usage?"
Lin Li's mory wasn't particularly poor, especially since he had repeatedly reviewed the information related to Mo Shaonan, so after a few seconds of thought, he recalled:
"Mo Shaonan's weapon before nineteen was a silver spear, earning the nickna 'Spot Mare Spear,' relatively rare for a spear cultivator.
But after Mo Peidong's fall, to commorate 'Huaiyu Sword' Mo Peidong, Mo Shaonan, hiss... abandoned the spear for the sword."
Wang Jun nodded and said:
"Correct, abandoned the spear for the sword, which sounds sentintal, but in reality, doing so is very difficult, especially for cultivators.
At that ti, Mo Shaonan's level was the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, and he had already refined his spear into a life weapon, capable of flying in the air.
To abandon the spear and take up the sword is essentially equivalent to crippling oneself.
Of course, this can only be said to be a logically hard-to-explain issue, but it doesn't rule out the possibility that Mo Shaonan might have abandoned the spear for the sword in the depths of his despair.
Therefore, rely based on this, it would be unreasonable to suspect Mo Shaonan, but the following situation is even more bizarre:
Do you still rember the portrait of the Mo Family's third ancestor that we found?"
Lin Li pondered for a mont and then responded, "Oh, you're talking about the few portraits of the Mo family's ancestors that we found in Mo Lisen's storage bag?"
In the Damo Realm, the majority of cultivator clans would often have a portrait drawn of ancestors who held significant status during the developnt of their clan.
Firstly, it's for the descendants to pay tribute to the contributions of the ancestors; secondly, it's to glean so glory for the family lineage.
For example, in the Wei Family Ancestral Hall in Chixian City, there is a depiction of Wei Siming, Cheng Shiqing, and other founders of the city.
Additionally, due to the existence of recording techniques in the Damo Realm, these kinds of drawings are typically based on real scenes, without excessive artistic embellishnt.
At that ti, the rabbits found seven or eight portraits of ancestors in Mo Lisen's storage bag, one of which depicted Mo Shaonan.
That portrait recorded Mo Shaonan fighting a Tiger Demon, showing him spiritedly holding a white tiger with a spear.
As Zhang Guanghua was not present for the slab dating, Lin Li chose to operate on his own and projected the painting onto the main screen.
After everyone had viewed the image, Wang Jun pointed to the screen and said:
"In this painting, you can clearly see that Mo Shaonan is holding the spear with his right hand in a traditional grip, which is the usual spear-holding way for most people.
But according to our analysis of the wear on the skeleton's finger bones...
The skeleton had the habit of holding a sword with his left hand during its lifeti.
If Mo Shaonan abandoned the spear for the sword to commorate Mo Peidong, it might have been understandable, but how can the habit of left hand and right hand be changed so easily?"
Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Wang Jun continued:
"Besides, didn't President Wei Qiangsheng just categorize a lot of items from the spatial bag?
In the two hours while you were waiting for Patriarch Wei and others to arrive and activate the slab, our team conducted an inventory of these items.
Perhaps because Mo Peidong once risked his life to save the Mo family's third ancestor, the records of his life within the Mo family are quite detailed, like Zhu Yuanzhang's groom having a dedicated record volu as well.
By comparing life records with the items in the storage bag, we finally found a considerable portion that aligns with Mo Peidong's personal habits.
For example, Western Sandalwood, which is a fragrance Mo Peidong personally favored.
And this kind of sandalwood is not well accepted by the majority in the Damo Realm, including Mo Shaonan of the Mo family.
Mo Shaonan had ntioned more than once that Mo Peidong was good in every way, except for his unremarkable choice of fragrances.
The piece of Western Sandalwood in the skeleton's storage bag clearly shows signs of prolonged use.
Additionally, Mo Peidong was not considered a core mber of the clan, so his yearly stipend was limited, sotis requiring him to advance fund to purchase items.
This condition exists not only within the Mo family, but is also a common unwritten rule in most cultivator clans.
If a clan mber wanted to advance a stipend, they must clearly state the purpose for which the spirit stones would be used.
According to an account book we found in the Mo Family warehouse, Mo Peidong once advanced a stipend to purchase a puppet from a distant city through the Mo family's caravan, with a model identical to the one found in the spatial bag.
Based on the above judgnt... we can largely confirm that the true identity of the skeleton is Mo Peidong."
Lin Li's frown deepened as Wang Jun started speaking, and after he finished, Lin Li remained silent for a while before asking:
"If it truly is as Researcher Wang described, the skeleton indeed highly resembles Mo Peidong, but what did Mo Peidong seek?
And how did he manage to take over Mo Shaonan's body?"
As soon as Lin Li finished speaking, Patriarch Wei, standing nearby, suddenly uttered a word:
"The 'Great Perfection Dharma' can do it."
Seeing everyone's attention turn to him, Patriarch Wei pondered for a mont and explained:
"The 'Great Perfection Dharma' is a body-possession cultivation technique, which under specific conditions allows one to seize another's path foundation, thus making reincarnation and cultivation anew possible.
This cultivation thod has very stringent conditions, and in the Damo Realm, it is also considered a forbidden technique among forbidden techniques, it's unlikely even in Ziqiong City to find traces of it.
But speaking solely from the effect, it indeed can achieve this.
Then he paused, contemplating:
"As for the reason why Mo Peidong would possess Mo Shaonan... most likely it's because of that 'Golden Sword Manual' which can increase power by one and a half tis."
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