novelraw Chapter 208 - 205: The Choice of Evolution
Chapter 208 - 205: The Choice of Evolution
Hu Qi ignored the collapsed White-backed Black Bear and instead turned his gaze to the three cubs being fiercely protected by the female.
A thread of his Power of the Heart quietly reached out, like an invisible string, and penetrated directly into the cubs’ bodies, bones, and flesh.
A few seconds later, he withdrew his Power of the Heart and turned to Dai Shu, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Have the comparative analyses of the various stats of Exotic Beasts from the surface and the Inner Earth World revealed any anomalies?"
Dai Shu shook her head slightly.
"There aren’t any major differences. At most, there are only slight variations in their habits.
However, based on the latest research, we can confirm that these Exotic Beasts are likely primitive creatures from the surface, dating back hundreds of millions of years."
Hu Qi raised an eyebrow. This was within his expectations; his scan with the Power of the Heart hadn’t revealed anything special either.
The surface and the Earth Core are different. The Exotic Beasts found on the surface are all isolated cases, and they cannot reproduce with ordinary members of their species.
This prevents the possibility of their bloodlines being diluted through crossbreeding, which would in turn lead to a decrease in the number of Exotic Beasts.
’If Exotic Beasts can’t reproduce with ordinary creatures, then how did an Exotic Beast like the Camphor Tea Duck appear?’
’The only possibility is that it gradually evolved due to environmental changes.’
Evolution is the change in the genetic traits of a biological population over successive generations. This change is usually caused by factors such as natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow.
Evolution is the result of random mutation and natural selection; it does not have a predetermined "good" goal.
Some evolutionary traits might be advantageous in the current environment, but environmental changes can render those same traits detrimental.
For example, before the Industrial Revolution, the light-colored peppered moth had a camouflage advantage on tree trunks. But as industrial pollution blackened the trunks, the dark-colored peppered moth gained a survival advantage instead.
The same is true for Exotic Beasts. The living environment of the Inner Earth World is different from the surface, which is why those Exotic Beasts are extremely aggressive.
But some Exotic Beasts, after arriving on the surface, have evolved into the ordinary creatures we see today.
This phenomenon was somewhat similar to a rumor Hu Qi had heard in his previous life: that the ancestors of birds and chickens were once the rulers of Blue Star—dinosaurs that stood several, or even dozens of meters tall, and weighed up to several hundred tons.
But over time, due to a decrease in the oxygen content of the atmosphere and changes in the living environment, their massive bodies were no longer suitable for survival.
And so, they evolved into their current forms.
’It’s not that creatures necessarily get stronger just by evolving.’
’The ultimate goal of evolution is simply survival.’
’As for the current Exotic Beasts, their existence is due to some form of atavism.’
After that, Hu Qi briefly looked around the area and prepared to leave.
Before leaving, he had someone chop off one of the male White-backed Black Bear’s front paws to take back and eat with drinks.
The loss of one paw wouldn’t affect its reproductive functions, and it might even make the bear less aggressive. It was killing two birds with one stone.
...
In the evening, the golden crow sank below the horizon, and the sky turned crimson, filled with fiery sunset clouds.
Inside the courtyard, Hu Qi sat before a wooden table.
On a plate on the table lay a large bear paw, sizzling and glistening with oil.
He picked up a knife and fork, cut off a piece, dipped it in a little pepper, then wrapped it in a lettuce leaf and put it in his mouth.
The moment he bit down, he first felt the crispness of the lettuce, followed by the tender, juicy roasted meat.
The unique fragrance of the Exotic Beast meat spread through his mouth, mingling with the freshness of the lettuce, and Hu Qi let out a long, satisfied sigh.
For Hu Qi, life had been surprisingly peaceful lately.
When he had nothing else to do,
he would savor Spirit Tea, eat Exotic Beast Meat, search for Life Acupoints within his body, and collect Inheritance Secret Martial Arts. Life was quite fulfilling.
Especially with the Inheritance Secret Martial Arts. In the past two-plus months, he had collected all the arts from the Lower-tier Schools and most from the Middle-tier Schools, with only a few remaining.
With his current strength, collecting Inheritance Secret Martial Arts was even easier.
Paired with his Hypnosis Technique, even a Qi Dao Grandmaster was nothing more than a puppet he could manipulate at will.
He hadn’t thought much of it before, but after experiencing the power of a Refining God Venerable, Hu Qi understood that it wasn’t impossible for the Xia Federation to collect the Inheritance Secret Martial Arts.
With the Power of the Heart of a Refining God Venerable, they could completely crush Qi Dao Grandmasters and other Martial Arts Families, even without hypnosis skills.
So what if some School leaders were stubborn and would rather be destroyed than submit?
A Refining God Venerable could control your thoughts with a single notion.
’The only reason things are the way they are is because they don’t want to.’
As for why, Hu Qi had a few guesses.
’Perhaps the Seven Great Schools that control the Federation don’t want to see it happen.’
’After all, if the Inheritance Secret Martial Arts were made public, the number of Secret Martial Artists would skyrocket, and the consumption of Treasure Medicines and Spiritual Materials would surely intensify.’
’To a certain extent, this would squeeze the room for survival and development of the Upper-tier Schools.’
’To a Refining God Venerable, any number of ordinary Secret Martial Artists is useless.’
’They are like a swarm of ants that can be swatted away with a single wave of the hand.’
Of course, Hu Qi had no way of knowing if there were other reasons involved.
...
Shaking off his scattered thoughts, Hu Qi glanced to the side.
In the lake, the snake and the duck were playing happily in the water.
Hu Qi had previously fed some Middle Black Blood Species blood to the Camphor Tea Duck. After all, it was a long-time subordinate, so he couldn’t treat it poorly.
Unfortunately, there was still no change. The only difference seemed to be that it had gotten smarter.
As for Xiaobai, Hu Qi’s scans with his Power of the Heart made any dissection completely unnecessary.
He had already learned pretty much everything he needed to know.
For him, the greatest use for these two Exotic Beasts now was simply to keep them as pets.
Shaking his head, he looked at his panel.
’It’s about time I raised my strength again!’
"Crimson!"
[Host: Hu Qi]
[Status: Normal]
[Age: 22]
[Bloodline: Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent (75%) △]
[Talent: Spirit Devouring, Twisted Light, Primordial Eye]
[Divine Techniques: Water Control, Intention Sword]
[Skill: Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Celestial Heart Chapter, Third Layer) △, Traits: Wolf Transformation, Tiger Intent, Rhino Armor, Flash Jump, Infrasound, Frenzy...]
[Taiyin Life Acupoint Atlas Divine Summoning Technique—Life Acupoints: Silver Frost, Moonlight, Flowing Light, Night Sea △]
[Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique (Energy Storage: None) △]
[Blood Mantis Secret Martial Art (Entry-Level)]
...
[Modification Points: 503 (9%)]
————
Crimson text materialized before his eyes. The panel had changed quite a bit.
The most obvious change was to the "Taiyin Life Acupoint Atlas Divine Summoning Technique".
In addition to the Silver Frost Life Acupoint, he had opened three more: Moonlight, Flowing Light, and Night Sea.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to open more. Activating Life Acupoints wasn’t difficult for him; the hard part was that their locations were too well-hidden.