As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 133 The Sea of ​​Genes
In Xu Yan's eyes, Xiong Ruyue quickly became a huge source of radiation.

He seemed to be able to see through her appearance, to see directly her breath, her blood flow, her heat.

The electromagnetic waves continuously released from her body, and even the information flow gushing from the depths of her brain, transformed into surging waves, one after another, crashing towards her.

Xu Yan did not resist.

Instead, one imagines one's own body and even consciousness as a small boat drifting with the current, letting Xiong Ruyue's "life tides" sway and resonate with it.

Soon, the world around them vanished in a flash.

Instead, there was the sound of surging, ceaseless waves.

In a daze, Xu Yan entered a mysterious and profound world of meditation.

Using meditation to condense one's qi and blood, strengthen one's will, and enhance one's spirit is an ancient practice in the cultivation world.

Many prestigious schools with a history spanning thousands of years use the "Red Sun Visualization Method" as the foundation for their introductory disciples.

This method is also known as "observing incense in a dark room." When practicing, the new disciple is led into a dark and cold room where it is impossible to see one's own hand in front of one's face. Only a thin stick of incense is lit in the corner. The new disciple is asked to stare at the faintly burning incense stick for a long time and imagine the flickering incense stick as a rising sun, radiating endless light and heat.

Only when this "rising sun" can completely transfer from the incense burner to the mind of the novice disciple, shining brightly in the sky of the mind, making the novice disciple feel comfortable all over, as if sitting on a warm stove, and not afraid of the cold of the dark room, can he be considered to have officially embarked on the path of cultivation.

In addition, there is the "Pagoda Visualization Method," which involves visualizing oneself in an insurmountable pagoda, climbing layer by layer until reaching the clouds, and then leaping down thousands of feet, comprehending the fearlessness, courage, and freedom of sacrificing oneself for the path amidst the terror of being shattered to pieces.

It is said that when one cultivates to the extreme, one can break free from the "pagoda" of the physical body and reach the realm of the primordial spirit leaving the body and the spirit wandering at night.

The Wanhun Sect, where Xu Yan was located, had a different cultivation method for its entry-level disciples, which was the "Impermanence Contemplation Method" adapted to local conditions.

To practice this method, one must obtain a corpse that is outwardly intact, preferably a woman with a beautiful face and a full figure, or a strong man with a majestic appearance and a robust physique.

For the next few days, they would stay up all night with the corpse, carefully observing it as it slowly stiffened, swelled, and rotted from the most beautiful moment of its life, until the flesh turned into pus, the insects devoured the internal organs, and finally it turned into a pile of bones, on which lush green grass grew again—such a process of "extreme prosperity followed by decline, and resurrection."

As the saying goes, there are "views on beauty, giants, rotting flesh, insects, bones, and grass".

Every change that occurs after death can bring tremendous impact and enlightenment.

Once you have seen the entire process of human decomposition clearly and memorized it thoroughly, you must then, in meditation, replace the deceased with yourself.

He imagined that after his death, he would be like these beautiful women or strong men, abandoning everything from the past, turning into a pile of bones, a handful of yellow earth, and a fleeting dream.

In this way, one can experience the true meaning of life and death being impermanent and life being like a dream.

They then break free from the concept of "mortal" or "human," embark on the path of cultivation, and evolve into a higher and more perfect life form than humans.

As a time traveler, Xu Yan had a unique understanding of the concept of "life".

With the experience of being surrounded by mountains of corpses and seas of blood, as well as the infusion of primordial purple energy, his "Impermanence Contemplation Method" has long been mastered and perfected.

Then Xiong Ruyue, disregarding the cost of her own life magnetic field, almost personally guided him.

Soon, the surrounding world turned into an endless black ocean.

He was like a string of bubbles floating on the sea, watching helplessly as the raging waves surged around him, and the towering waves could crush him into dust at any moment.

Beneath his feet were undercurrents a hundred times stronger than the wind and waves, and a deep sea as dark as a giant abyss, containing countless mysteries.

This is his "mind".

Xu Yan recalled Xiong Ruyue's words.

Composing this raging sea is a torrent of information hidden deep within the human genome.

Anyone, even the humblest beggar, has a treasure trove of mysteries dating back millions of years, deep within their cells, where the spiraling genetic chains are intertwined.

Countless ancient genomes can be traced back from the Age of Heroes all the way to before the four great ages, to the ancient past.

It even traces back from humans to apes, from apes to dinosaurs, from dinosaurs to trilobites, all the way to the moment when primitive life was born in the boiling ocean.

If one believes that "matter determines consciousness," or at least that "matter interferes with consciousness," then one has to believe that, to some extent, human "self-consciousness" and even "free will" are determined by these ancient and chaotic genes.

To cultivate one's mind, to perfectly master oneself, and thus to seize control of one's destiny.

They must brave the waves and fight against the undercurrents in the primeval ocean swept by the gene storm, until they uncover the secrets hidden in the deep sea and awaken the underwater mountain range called "self".

This is not easy.

Even for official citizens of the Heroic Spirit Alliance, who receive the most comprehensive education in soul studies from a young age and with the aid of professional equipment and meditation cards, it often takes several years to find patterns and rhythms in the chaotic and disordered primordial ocean.

Not to mention that Xu Yan's soul and body are not perfectly unified.

Even though his soul came from two worlds and carried twice as much information as an ordinary person, it was still more difficult for him to see himself clearly in the vast ocean of information, as boundless as the Milky Way and containing countless grains of sand in the Ganges. Xu Yan was sometimes swept hundreds of meters into the air by raging waves.

At times, I am plunged into an unfathomable vortex, feeling as if my consciousness is being torn apart and swallowed up.

Deep within the vortex, countless bizarre and unbelievable scenes shimmered.

They are all inherited through genes, from the memories of ancestors from tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years ago.

In a daze, Xu Yan seemed to see the super machines, colossal structures, and steel jungles of the Fourth Era.

They also saw extraordinary beings from the Third Age who, after being modified by humans, gained superhuman intelligence and in turn modified humans, ultimately forming a perfect life form.

I also saw a madman from the Second Era who attempted to break all laws with martial arts, transcend the limits of life, and even surpass gods and demons.

They even saw the true gods and demons hidden at the source of history in the early First Age.

When the ancient god-demon, as massive as an underwater mountain range, moved its body and opened one of its 36,000 pairs of eyes towards him, emitting an unfathomable light, Xu Yan deeply felt the profundity of history, the complexity of genes, and his own insignificance, and couldn't help but tremble as if he had developed thalassophobia.

He recalled a sentence he had heard on Earth.

So-called consciousness is nothing more than a slave to genes.

Humans, who pride themselves on being the most intelligent of all beings, are nothing more than tools created by genes for reproduction.

Damn...

Xu Yan has been trapped in this place for several days.

Even if he can overcome his awe of the ancestral memories deep within his genes, he will still find it difficult to find his true self in the vast and complex information database.

It looked like we were about to return empty-handed again, just like a few days ago.

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Xu Yan.

That's right. Official citizens of the Heroic Spirit Alliance begin practicing the "Mind Palace Meditation Method" from a young age so that they can see their true selves before their brains are "contaminated" by too much information.

He had been practicing the "Impermanence Contemplation Method" since childhood, and at the age of seven, he followed Old Scar to collect corpses, witnessing the entire process of mountains of corpses and seas of blood turning into yellow earth and green grass.

If we could combine the "Impermanence Contemplation Method" and the "Mind Palace Meditation Method"...

Xu Yan's eyes sparkled.

Taking a deep breath, the gaze directed at the ancient gods and demons shifted.

That's right. Even if this world once had an incredibly advanced civilization, even if the ancestors of this body were once as powerful as gods and demons, so what?
The ancient gods and demons have long since vanished, becoming fragmented legends and strange tales.

The once world-destroying martial artists eventually fell between heaven and earth. When they began to swell, rot, and have their internal organs devoured by insects, and when lush green grass grew on their piles of white bones, and even when the grass withered and turned into dust and nothingness, the whole process was no different from that of the weakest mortal.

Subsequently, whether they were genetically modified superhuman beings or steel jungles that had awakened self-awareness, no matter how powerful and bizarre their life forms became, they could not escape the net of death and annihilation.

The glory they once created has all turned into ruins buried deep underground, prehistoric relics that can crumble at the slightest touch.

Even the most powerful gods and demons have fallen.

Even the most glorious days are gone.

They are not a burden, an obstacle, an enemy, or even their master.

They are the road that stretches from the distant past all the way to their feet and leads to an even more distant future.

Even though the road was already broken...

They would gather their remains and continue their journey, a path filled with thorns and flames, a path with endless possibilities.

"boom"!
The sea had become calm without anyone noticing, but Xu Yan heard a deafening roar, like an underwater volcanic eruption, coming from the depths of his mind.

The ancient illusions, including those of gods and demons, collapsed with a deafening roar.

A majestic underwater mountain range, resembling a dragon with its claws outstretched, rose up in my mind, forming an island with towering peaks.

"It's done!"

Xu Yan breathed a long sigh of relief.

Knowing that you have passed the crucial first test in the "Mind Palace Meditation Method".

He filtered out 99% of invalid information and advanced information that he could not yet analyze from the vast gene pool, and retrieved the most important information at the moment—the primal instincts and desires of this body, that is, the "beastly nature" that is indispensable for being human.

(End of this chapter)