The People's God: Sacrificing Trillions to Ascend

Han Wu didn’t get involved in the project to help Jia Gui become a kept man. He left that entirely to Sun Qingnian and Jia Gui to work out between themselves. He was confident that, with Sun Qingnian’s expertise, turning Jia Gui into a functional scoundrel wouldn’t be a problem.

Back in his divine realm, Han Wu opened the Evolution Blueprint and reviewed the breeding progress across the various evolution paths.

Thanks to the locusts’ enormous population, newborn locusts multiplied every day. As ordinary locusts grew stronger, they entered their evolution phase. The fastest one so far had reached the perfect stage, having chosen the recovery enhancement path.

That path was the easiest to evolve along, so a disproportionate number of locusts gravitated toward it. While this accelerated his units’ average strength growth, it didn’t align with Han Wu’s plans. He wanted balanced development across the board. Having too many support units wouldn’t matter much in the early stages, but over time it would weaken his divine realm’s overall combat power.

As such, Han Wu adjusted the evolution path distribution, allocating the ten available paths an equal ten percent. The change would slow initial growth, but once the system matured, it would pay for generations.

As Han Wu immersed himself in his unit breeding research, the Origin of Mutation sent him a telepathic message. “Vessel, I’ve put something incredible together. Come take a look.”

Han Wu knew the Origin of Mutation well. He wouldn’t summon him unless it was something significant. Therefore, he set his work aside and headed to the lab.

When he arrived, the Origin of Mutation’s assistant, Yakushi Nan, handed him a bucket. Han Wu didn’t understand what it was for. Nonetheless, he accepted it and walked into the lab, where two naked humanoid figures were engaged in something deeply unsettling.

He stepped closer for a closer look. Both of them were Huang Shengjun.

Han Wu vomited on the spot. Every last drop went into the bucket. He swore that if the Origin of Mutation ever made him watch something like that again, he would slap him across the face, even though that face was identical to his own.

After emptying his stomach and storming out of the lab, Han Wu demanded, “What are you doing?”

He had seen mountains of corpses and battlefields soaked in gore and had endured the stench of heavily decomposed corpses, yet none of it had disgusted him as thoroughly as what he had just witnessed.

The Origin of Mutation could barely contain his excitement. “Vessel, didn’t you see? I’m creating a miracle of life!”

“A miracle of life? Are you serious?” Han Wu was already fighting the urge to hit him. He had come here with high expectations, and this was what the Origin of Mutation wanted to show him?

The Origin of Mutation finally explained, “Vessel, hear me out. These two test subjects are the ones I captured on Paradise Island. After studying them, I discovered that their bodies have undergone massive structural changes compared to the original Huang Shengjun.”

Han Wu focused his attention. “What kind of changes?”

“You know what a mule is, right? It is the offspring of a horse and a donkey, two different species. It inherits advantages from both but can’t reproduce.”

“Go on.” Han Wu didn’t fully understand, but he trusted the Origin of Mutation to connect the dots.

The Origin of Mutation continued, “The Huang Shengjuns on Paradise Island are like mules. That’s only a metaphor, of course. Each individual is fixed in their current state. They can’t reproduce, can’t grow stronger, and don’t even retain complete memories.

“They have combat strength comparable to the Microcosm rank, but they lack the Divine Ring and Microcosms that a Microcosm life form should have.”

The Origin of Mutation grew more animated as he spoke. “Don’t you see? This already qualifies as an entirely new species. So I’ve been researching how to make this species self-sustaining. I modified two test subjects at the genetic level, designating one as male and the other as female, then used viral worms to induce reproduction.

“Current data indicates that the experiment is successful. If the female successfully gives birth, this race will be capable of perpetuating itself.”

“What traits would the offspring have?” Han Wu asked.

“That hasn’t been fully confirmed yet. According to V’s projections, the probability of a successful birth is seventy-five percent, while the probability of the offspring being a mule is one-hundred percent.

“They will inherit Huang Shengjun’s physical traits, though. Their strength will increase rapidly as they mature, allowing them to reach the Microcosm rank by the age of twenty-two.

“They still won’t develop a Divine Ring or Microcosm, but they’ll be exceptionally powerful individual combatants. They’ll also be able to form a mental link with other members of the same race, achieving perfect synchronization and unleashing devastating Formation Might attacks.”

Han Wu came to understand the Origin of Mutation’s excitement. A unit that only needed twenty-two days of cultivation in the divine realm to reach the Microcosm rank, despite lacking both a Divine Ring and a Microcosm, while still capable of unleashing powerful Formation Might, was a game-changer.

Who else in the entire Divine Civilization could produce a Microcosm life form in twenty-two days? Even Wealth God King Zhao Zihong couldn’t buy something like that with all his wealth.

“What about the mule problem?” Han Wu pressed.

If the offspring couldn’t reproduce, the race would eventually reach a dead end.

The Origin of Mutation confidently thumped his chest. “Easy. I’ve already mastered the necessary techniques. With the right resources, I can mass-produce a gene serum that locks in the offspring’s sex before the age of ten, or even earlier. Reproduction won’t be affected.”

Han Wu nodded. If the Origin of Mutation’s projections proved accurate, the implications would be enormous. He had personally fought a Huang Shengjun legion, so he knew firsthand how dangerous they were.

Sensing that Han Wu had calmed down, the Origin of Mutation continued, “This is a completely new race, unlike any known unit. Vessel, why don’t you name them?”

Han Wu considered it for a moment and decided that the name had to honor Huang Shengjun’s role in making it all possible. “Let’s call them the Shengjun race.”

The Origin of Mutation nodded. “As you say, vessel. The Shengjun race it is.”

Han Wu raised one final point. “When you modify the genes, can you make the two sexes visually distinct? Having them look identical is unsettling.”

“No problem. That’s a minor detail,” the Origin of Mutation replied cheerfully, “As long as you provide sufficient resources, anything is worth trying.”

Han Wu finally realized what this was really about. The Origin of Mutation hadn’t called him there just to show off his results. He wanted funding.

“How much?” Han Wu asked.

“Not much. About 10 million Divine Essence should cover the full study of the Shengjun race’s characteristics.”

The figure made Han Wu’s liver twitch. His income was substantial, but even he couldn’t sustain the Origin of Mutation’s spending habits forever. Then he pictured a legion of Shengjun soldiers under his command and decided that the investment was worth it.

“You’ll get the Divine Essence. Deliver results quickly,” Han Wu said through gritted teeth.