00002_Gene Spirit Root
# Gene Spirit Root
Chapter 2
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 2: Gene Spirit Root
Ding Huan had already pushed his Star Five to its maximum speed, but the bright dot on the screen was still growing larger.
It was the warship chasing him.
A sense of despair welled up in Ding Huan's heart.
He caressed the control panel of Star Five, and at this moment, he could even smell the faint burning scent from the friction of the components due to the excessive speed.
Having wandered the cosmos for nearly two centuries, only sitting in the cockpit of Star Five could bring him peace.
In normal times, even a scratch on Star Five would have pained him for days.
But now, he was forced to push Star Five to its limits, and still, he couldn't escape his pursuers.
He knew all too well that Star Five, which had been with him for nearly a century, was about to perish with him.
He picked up a leather scroll from the control panel again.
The scroll was covered in dense characters—it was written in Cangyu script.
He had obtained this scroll several years ago, and over the years, he had memorized every character on it.
Yet, he still couldn't understand what they meant.
To decipher the scroll, he had even gone out of his way to learn the universal Cangyu script.
While he could now recognize the characters, their meaning remained a mystery.
It was like when he was a child learning English—he knew every letter, but when they were combined, most of the time, he had no idea what they meant.
Ding Huan always felt that this scroll was extraordinary, but despite years of study, he had gained nothing from it.
Feeling the approaching warship behind him, Ding Huan's anger reached its peak.
The Du Family—he had worked for them for so many years, almost selling his life to them.
Yet, they were now hunting him down without a second thought for his past sacrifices.
The Du Family was chasing him, a nameless pawn who had once served them, all for this small leather scroll in front of him.
Ding Huan knew that even if he handed the scroll over to the Du Family, they wouldn't be able to decipher it.
Even though he knew the Du Family would gain nothing from it, he refused to give it to them—a ruthless and inhumane clan.
It was a pity that he was about to die.
Otherwise, even if he couldn't destroy the Du Family, he would have done everything in his power to take a chunk out of them.
"Ah..."
Ding Huan let out a long, frustrated sigh, but it was useless.
Without strength, even his anger seemed laughable.
The light in Ding Huan's eyes gradually dimmed.
Was he destined to be bullied and suffer from the moment he was born?
Back on Earth, he had been bullied, his father had disappeared, his inheritance had been taken away, his legs had been broken, and his eyes had been gouged out.
After leaving Earth and arriving on another life-sustaining planet, he was still being bullied...
Was he the only Earthling who had left Earth and was still alive?
Did it even matter? The outcome remained unchanged.
The alarm from Star Five jolted Ding Huan awake.
On the screen, a yellowish-brown planet appeared.
Star Five was warning him that a landmass had been detected ahead, and it needed to stop for maintenance.
Ding Huan's gaze fell on the growing dot of the pursuing warship.
He murmured, "Let this be our resting place. After all these years, we're both tired..."
He was grateful to have encountered this yellowish-brown planet in his final moments.
Since the day he was forced to leave Earth, he had longed to return.
Nearly two centuries had passed, and he had never made it back.
But now, in his final moments, the heavens had granted him a small mercy—a place to rest, rather than vanishing into the vast void.
He came from a traditional Earth family.
Even in death, he didn't want his soul to drift aimlessly in the void, with no place to find peace.
Crumpling the leather scroll in his hand, Ding Huan calmly stuffed it into his mouth.
Then, he activated Star Five's self-destruct program, placing his palm on the scanner to confirm.
A man dies when he dies.
He had lived nearly two centuries after leaving Earth—what hadn't he seen?
Now, dying here with his Star Five wasn't something to fear.
Just as Ding Huan was calmly facing death, the scroll in his mouth seemed to dissolve like a flame, and a surge of heat rushed into his brain.
Ding Huan's entire body stiffened as if struck by an electric current.
An endless stream of information flooded his mind.
It was like someone was stuffing all sorts of knowledge deep into his brain.
It turned out that this scroll wasn't meant to be read.
"The humans of our planet are on the brink of destruction. The vast civilization and immortal heritage we've built over countless years will soon vanish. But I know this is just one of the countless cycles our planet has gone through. One day, our planet too will disappear into the vast cosmos... Many years later, life will emerge on this planet again, and humans will slowly appear, eventually developing a new civilization. However, they will never be able to break the shackles of the human body and become immortals. Without me, the immortal civilization will disappear from this planet forever. After the first rebirth of this planet, there will be no spirit roots left. Thus, the concept of cultivating immortality will cease to exist. When humans emerge again on this planet, the most they will achieve in their civilization is genetic modification. Yes, genes—I have deduced that this term will play a crucial role in the advancement of future civilizations. It may take them much longer, perhaps tens of thousands of years, to reach the level of our current civilization—and that doesn't even include immortal civilization. I don't believe there will be another genius like me who can understand the relationship between genes and the Great Dao. At best, they will be able to fuse certain genes into the human body, making humans slightly stronger than they were before. But no matter what, they won't be able to change the inherent weakness of humanity. Because they will only scratch the surface, thinking that gene fusion can enhance physical strength, abilities, and even lifespan. They will never know that gene foundation-building is the first step for humanity to step beyond this planet. And the essence of gene foundation-building is something only I understand. Before the planet's cycle ends, I have taken these five leather scrolls away from this planet, hoping that one day someone will bring them back. After all, this is where I was born. I don't want this planet to truly perish one day. I also hope that one day, the person who obtains these scrolls will meet me. I want to know whether gene foundation-building or other forms of foundation-building will take us further. ... After humanity completely loses its spirit roots, the only way to progress further is through gene cultivation. The foundation of gene cultivation, I believe, is gene foundation-building. A gene cultivator without gene foundation-building is like water without a source or a tree without roots. Just as a cultivator needs spirit roots to build a foundation, I believe that gene foundation-building requires gene spirit roots. The first step in gene cultivation is to find one's own gene spirit root. Only with a gene spirit root can one truly embark on the path of the Great Dao of genes... The vast cosmos has stripped us of our spirit roots, but it hasn't cut off our path to strength. Everything still depends on ourselves..."
Gene spirit roots?
Gene foundation-building?
Ding Huan's hands trembled.
He had heard of gene foundation-building before.
On the Changyi Continent, some had achieved it and become top-tier experts.
Now he finally understood why so few on the Changyi Continent could achieve gene foundation-building.
Everyone on the Changyi Continent knew that to advance further in gene evolution, one had to undergo gene foundation-building.
Knowing was one thing, but actually achieving it was rare.
It turned out that gene foundation-building required gene spirit roots.
Compared to the Changyi Continent, Earth didn't even know about gene foundation-building.
After Earth's environment deteriorated and humanity entered the gene era, no one had ever achieved gene foundation-building.
All anyone knew was to keep fusing different genes, believing that the more genes one fused, the stronger one would become.
On Earth, the deepest understanding of gene evolution was that the higher the purity of fused genes, the greater the potential.
Whether cultivating martial arts or genes, it was easier to advance.
On the Changyi Continent, some could achieve gene foundation-building because, even without fusing gene spirit roots, a few people naturally possessed gene spirit roots or true cultivation spirit roots.
But on Earth, unless one generated their own gene spirit root through external gene fusion, no one could possess a gene spirit root.
"The gene for the wood-type gene spirit root needs to be extracted and fused from Guangming Suo, Gongtong, Yuan Pine, Bayou, and Fukui. However, these are not the most important and can even be replaced. What truly matters is the blood of reincarnation. I believe this alone will make it impossible for anyone to obtain a gene spirit root..."
Ding Huan had only heard of Gongtong, but the characteristics of the other species were so clear in his mind...
Weren't these just tree ferns, dove trees, five-needle pines, banana trees, and pine nuts?
The blood of reincarnation? He had no idea what that was.
Ding Huan was completely immersed in the information he had received until a massive explosion interrupted his thoughts.
A blinding white light flashed before his eyes.
Star Five had crashed into the yellowish-brown planet, and its self-destruct sequence had been triggered.
Just as he had begun to understand the secrets of gene cultivation—or rather, the secrets of gene evolution—he met his end on an unfamiliar planet in the cosmos.
Ding Huan closed his eyes, feeling neither sorrow nor joy.
On this broken planet, he and his Star Five would rest forever.
As his consciousness faded into eternal darkness, a slightly hoarse voice echoed in his mind:
"After I die, please give my eyes to him. He's still so young. Let him see the beauty of the world with my eyes..."
...
The massive explosion and towering flames caused a crimson spacecraft to halt, hovering in the void outside the exploding yellowish-brown planet.
A curvaceous woman stood at the helm of the spacecraft, gazing through the transparent shield at the white light rising from the explosion on the planet below.
Her eyes were filled with killing intent.
"That bastard would rather self-destruct his ship than hand over the item to our Du Family. How did the Du Family raise such an ungrateful dog?" a young man standing behind her said bitterly.
The woman, however, frowned slightly.
After a moment, she said, "Something's not right. I've seen Ding Huan's ship before. Even if it self-destructed, it shouldn't have caused such a massive explosion, nor should it have produced white flames."
The young man replied, "Many abandoned planets in the cosmos contain flammable materials and unstable elements. Ding Huan's ship self-destructing might have just been the trigger. Qi Rao, let's go back. With an explosion and fire of this magnitude, that item won't even leave behind dust."
Qi Rao continued to stare at the white flames rising from the yellowish-brown planet.
After several minutes, she sighed, "He got off easy. Let's go. We'll report back to my father."
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(End of Chapter)