Volume Two: Embarking on the Journey Chapter 26: A Discourse on Genetics

It must be said, many top-tier figures had gathered here today. Whether from the alien races, humanity, or the martial circles, they were all elites.

“The memorial ceremony up ahead has begun.”

At this moment, Shen Feng glanced forward and then said to the group, “But it’s not our turn yet. Unless something unexpected happens, we’ll have to wait until later to enter.”

“Then we’ll just wait,” Su Yu shrugged and smiled. “It’s rare to see so many masters in one place; it won’t be too boring.”

Wang Jue, Jiang Yunyan, and Jiang Yunxin remained silent.

At this moment, the five of them stood aside, waiting at the back like many other martial artists. Up front, some prominent figures had already entered to pay their respects.

Suddenly, a sleek silver triangular fighter jet flew in from afar.

The martial artists guarding around the Hero Monument did not stop it, and those who had already entered to pay tribute—the human and alien leaders and various strong figures—all halted their actions, turned around, and stood in place to greet it.

“Whoa...” Su Yu’s eyes brightened. “Looks like a big shot has arrived!”

“What the hell? Who’s coming?” Shen Feng was shocked. “I’ve been eyeing that fighter jet for a long time. Unfortunately, I probably won’t be able to afford one in this lifetime—it’s way too expensive.”

To be honest, everyone present was already considered a gathering of the strongest. They were unequivocally first-rate powerhouses.

Yet now, this entire group stood still to welcome the person inside that fighter jet.

From this alone, the identity of the person inside had to be terrifyingly important.

Wang Jue said nothing but watched intently.

Not only him, but all the martial artists and television crew present fixed their gazes on it, none daring to make a sound.

The air seemed to freeze.

The atmosphere around them grew heavy with silence.

The triangular fighter jet slowly descended, and the door opened.

A lean man of ordinary appearance, dressed entirely in black, stepped down the jet’s stairs.

However, his expression was grim, and his eyes glistened faintly with tears.

Just standing there, it felt as if a shadow had fallen over a radius of dozens of meters, as if he were a god within that space.

“White Sky King,” a Qing Star Mirror expert who came to greet him said.

The lean man sighed deeply but said nothing. He nodded at the Qing Star Mirror expert, other human leaders, and some elites from various races, then walked directly toward the Hero Monument.

Others followed behind him.

Silence enveloped the scene.

After this group of prominent figures entered, murmurs gradually began outside.

“Who is that person?” Wang Jue was full of questions.

Judging from his manner of arrival, the visitor was undoubtedly among humanity’s highest echelon—a peak figure.

“I don’t know,” Su Yu, Jiang Yunyan, and Jiang Yunxin shook their heads.

“I heard someone on the other side say that this person is called ‘White Sky Endowment,’” Shen Feng’s ears twitched as he whispered, “I’ve heard that name before. Back in the day, he was a highly renowned Blue Star Mirror expert, but then he disappeared from the public eye and rarely showed up.”

“I heard online that White Sky Endowment has broken through to the Purple Star Mirror, becoming one of the peak existences just below the ancestors,” Shen Feng continued.

“Purple Star Mirror existence?” Wang Jue and the others gasped.

Such a being was certainly humanity’s pinnacle, even among alien races.

No wonder these high-ranking figures came out to greet him.

It seemed he belonged to the tiny group standing at the very summit of Azure Blue Star’s martial world.

...

At the same time,

Mournful music echoed around the Hero Monument.

From human elites to alien strongmen, one by one, they paid their respects.

The television crews in the safety zone carefully recorded everything, while reporters from various networks described the scene on camera.

Soon,

It was Wang Jue and the others’ turn.

Following the flow of people, the five members of the Hurricane Squad quickly approached the Hero Monument.

The memorial was only a large black-and-white photo.

“I didn’t expect such an esteemed Green Star Mirror expert to be commemorated by just a photo, with no body present,” Wang Jue thought bitterly. Facing the endless rat tide, once dead, there was truly nothing left of the corpse.

Amid the mournful music, Shen Feng and the others bowed solemnly three times.

Next to them knelt silently the wife and children of the late He Ziming.

Afterward, Wang Jue and the others left the monument.

The atmosphere outside the monument noticeably lightened, no longer oppressive like it was before.

“To sacrifice one’s life to save others, Senior He Ziming was truly great,” Su Yu’s usual lightheartedness disappeared as he sighed, “If it were me, I couldn’t do it!”

“Alas, Senior He Ziming was also unlucky,” Shen Feng shook his head and sighed. “He risked his life to rescue martial artists trapped in the midst of the rat tide, but the leader of that endless rat tide must have targeted him precisely because he was a human powerhouse. They spared no cost to kill him. Once trapped by the rat tide, there was no escape.”

Wang Jue whispered, “I heard that during his desperate struggle, dozens of square kilometers of forest were destroyed, and three to four million rat beasts were killed. Imagine how terrifying that scene must have been.”

Previously, he and Wan Qianshan’s group were only pursued by a small band of tens of thousands of rat beasts, none of which were even third-tier. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to outrun them.

Yet even that small band exerted pressure on Wang Jue. Imagining the scene of hundreds of millions besieging them sent chills down his spine.

Senior He Ziming, as a Green Star Mirror expert, killing two or three million rat beasts in a short time was already formidable.

Shen Feng sighed, “If at that time Senior He Ziming had realized the rescue was hopeless and hadn’t ventured deeper into the core, withdrawing in time and carefully avoiding the rat tide’s heart, he might have survived.”

...

The memorial continued, but some who had paid respects began to leave.

After the Hurricane Squad’s five members left, they searched nearby for a restaurant with a classic style and decent decoration.

The restaurant owner knew many people were attending the memorial today. Upon seeing the direction Wang Jue and the others came from and their ‘Steel Beast’ vehicle, he immediately understood their status and invited them to the best private room on the second floor.

“All right, that’s enough. Bring it down,” Su Yu quickly ordered some dishes and waved the waiter away.

The restaurant’s most beautiful waitress glanced curiously at the group before obediently leaving the room.

Shen Feng clenched his teeth in frustration. “Damn it, I was in a good mood today, but after running into those bastards from the Flaming Squad, I’m so angry I can hardly stand it. My good mood’s completely ruined!”

They had encountered the Flaming Squad, who were also here to pay respects, as they left earlier.

“Captain,” Su Yu shook his head, “there’s no need to get so worked up over those bastards. They’re not worth it.”

“Heh, our two squads have reached a point of life-and-death rivalry,” Jiang Yunyan sneered, “Once this rat tide is over and we enter the wilderness zone, we’ll find a chance to take them out.”

Hearing this, Wang Jue frowned.

“Wang Jue, don’t worry!” Seeing his frown, Shen Feng smiled. “This restaurant is quite upscale. The private room we’re in is usually reserved for important people who often discuss confidential matters. The soundproofing is excellent; no need to worry about being overheard.”

“So what if someone hears us?” Su Yu scoffed. “We’re just talking about killing people. We haven’t actually done it. What’s wrong with talking?”

He didn’t care if anyone overheard. Given their relationship with the Flaming Squad, if it weren’t for the prohibitions in First City, they probably would have started fighting right there at the memorial.

“Ha, that’s true,” Wang Jue chuckled. Then he asked, “By the way, Captain, is there anyone formidable backing the Flaming Squad? If so, we need to be cautious when we leave.”

“Tch, what big shots could they possibly have?” Shen Feng sneered. “They’ve been opposing us for so long. If they truly had strong backers, do you think we’d still be alive and well?”

“I heard Senior He Ziming had three children: two sons and a daughter,” Su Yu sighed. “The eldest son and daughter are Orange Star Mirror and Yellow Star Mirror experts respectively. Only the second son has average strength, just a Red Star Mirror. It’s impressive—strong warriors really are different, even their children are so powerful.”

“That’s interesting,” Wang Jue exclaimed. “I didn’t expect Senior He Ziming’s three children to be Red Star Mirror, Orange Star Mirror, and Yellow Star Mirror experts.”

“That’s quite normal,” Shen Feng explained. “Wang Jue, you haven’t been in the adventurer circle long, so you might not know.”

“In reality, a powerful martial artist’s children are usually quite strong!”

“For example, under our ancestor, the top expert ‘Stone Sky King’ is about to break through to Purple Star Mirror. His son and daughter are both Blue Star Mirrors!”

“Ha?” Wang Jue was stunned but quickly blinked and realized he hadn’t paid attention to such details before.

Shen Feng continued with a smile, “Usually, when a martial artist cultivates, every cell in their body absorbs star energy, improving their strength while gradually refining their genes, enhancing and elevating them.”

“Superpowerful figures like ‘Stone Sky King’ and the ‘White Sky King’ we just saw could easily have children who reach the same Purple Star Mirror level.”

“Marriage and childbirth are part of gene inheritance. Strong warriors’ children naturally have an advantage!”

Hearing Shen Feng’s words, Wang Jue nodded thoughtfully.

To him, cultivation was essentially a process of genetic improvement.

The stronger one’s cultivation, the higher the quality of their genes.

When they marry and have children, they pass on their genes.

After all, those genes come with a high starting point.

However, this isn’t guaranteed.

If descendants are weaker than their predecessors, the family’s strength declines over generations.

Without exceptional individuals in between, a family’s genes will eventually become mediocre.

At that moment, the private room’s door suddenly opened, and the beautiful waitress came in to serve the dishes.

Once she finished and left, Shen Feng sighed, “Honestly, if humanity continues to develop like this, the genes of strong warriors will gradually spread, improving the genetic quality of all humans.”

“Some strong warriors marrying weaker partners will produce average children. In a way, strong warriors raise the overall human gene pool, while weaker ones lower it.”

“In short, raising humanity’s genetic level is a difficult task. How long it will take is anyone’s guess.”