Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses

Chapter 44 Re-exploring the Void Realm

[Having passed the arena battle in the Noah Universe Kingdom, you have four years left before entering the trial space. You have completed the consignment of the Fire Spirit Heavenly Heart. Relying on this resource, you have armed yourself and headed to the Void Realm Star.]

[No need to prove yourself again; having already surpassed the preliminaries and arena battles, you've made a name for yourself in the Morning Star Empire. The heads of the three major families that dominate the Void Realm Star warmly received you. You maintained a cautious attitude and didn't directly reveal your intentions, but you did state your purpose, claiming that you came because you heard rumors of a hidden spatial treasure in this place.]

Months later, after you expressed your strong desire to join the forces of the Void Realm, you finally got your wish and touched upon the secrets of the Void Realm, even its core secrets...

This time, you didn't choose to join House Drexler, but instead joined House Zarro, the leader of the three families.

To foster a sense of belonging to the Zarro family, a marriage alliance became a natural course of action. The head of the Zarro family, Zarro, married you to Lavinia, the eldest daughter of the family, who is of your generation.

After becoming one of their own, Zaro, the head of the Zaro family, tells you that the three major families have lived here for nearly a hundred epochs because they have used the large amount of Void Crystals here to develop a special potion that can improve bloodline levels. The most significant effect of this potion is to enhance the ability to comprehend the laws of space.

Months later, he tells you that all three major families are willing to support your ambition to break into the top 1,000 and will provide you with this special evolution potion. You claim you have already been injected with the highest-grade evolution potion, but Zaro claims that this potion does not conflict with the effects of existing potions on the market.

Judging from Zaro's expression, this potion is definitely not a guaranteed ticket to becoming a powerful being; it may not be a treasure that will ensure the injected person's successful evolution.

In any case, at this point you no longer have the right to refuse.

[After the injection, your gene multiplier decreased instead of increasing, but Zaro wasn't lying to you; your spatial talent is indeed higher than before, but your other talents have decreased significantly.]

In the second year, you felt that your physical condition was not as good as before, but the speed at which you accumulated spatial perception was indeed much faster than before.

[You harbor deep anxieties. Long ago, you sought an opportunity to contact Roger for help, only to find yourself unable to connect to the virtual universe, finding yourself under a form of house arrest. You can't trust anyone around you, including your wife who has repeatedly cast complex glances your way. Instead of speaking out, you search far and wide for a chance to escape.]

During this process, you naturally think of Teshir of the Drexler family, a person you trusted who has been simulated several times. Before you were placed under house arrest, you had come into contact with outstanding young talents from the three major families, and Teshir was naturally among them.

You seduced her.

You try to convey to her the fact that the three major families are hiding a terrible secret, and gradually, you become familiar with each other.

[In your fourth year, missing the selection for the Trial Space was a great regret, but there's another piece of good news: Lavinia and Teshir are both pregnant with your children. Congratulations, you're about to become a father of two!]

Months later, Tehir secretly meets with you and tells you that she has investigated the danger you may be in and has determined an escape route.

Unfortunately, Zaro had already noticed your unusual behavior and, after observing you in secret for a long time, finally revealed himself. He first killed Teshir, but preserved the embryo Teshir was carrying. Then, looking at you regretfully, he called out Lavinia.

As you stare in shock, your wife tearfully questions you: why did you choose to betray her when she remained loyal to you?

[It turns out that after your failed evolution after the injection, Zarro planned to have Lavinia abandon you and marry someone else, but she didn't agree, and today, she became the last straw that broke your back.]

Lavinia killed you with her own hands, sending you and Teshir to become a pitiful pair of lovers on their journey to the underworld.

[This simulation has ended]

Please select the inheritance direction.

[1. Material Inheritance (Your physical body has been contaminated, reducing your life gene level to half, and slightly increasing your affinity for space)]

[2. Soul Inheritance (Slightly improved understanding of spatial laws; other experience gained)]

3. Forgo the profits from this simulation.

"Um?"

"A decrease in gene proliferation rate?"

Hunzhen frowned, his immediate feeling being that his previous assessment of the "hidden effects of the simulation system" was wrong. Otherwise, according to his previous theory, only the spatial affinity should have increased, without causing a decrease in the level of life's genes.

But upon closer inspection, I immediately realized that I had misunderstood.

This increased spatial affinity and the life gene level are both products of "physical pollution," and are naturally bound together.

Your physical body is polluted, causing your genetic level to decline. If you deny this pollution, then naturally there will be no improvement brought about by the pollution.

As for comparing this change with one's current self, it's impossible to directly determine whether one has become weaker or stronger.

The system should compare the absolute strength improvement. For example, if the life gene level is weakened from 2 times to 1 time, it can be directly determined that the current Hunzhen is stronger.

However, while your life gene level has been weakened, your spatial affinity has also increased. The weakening is not much, and the increase is not small either. Who knows, there might actually be a space-based weapon that requires a certain level of spatial affinity to be used, and that's what this increase is needed?

For example, in the current version of the universe, spatial affinity is highly valued. A slight increase can generate hundreds or even thousands more illusory bodies. Isn't that much more appealing than a tiny difference in the level of life's genetic makeup? If this environmental variable changes, the relative strength might plummet.

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So how do we measure and judge whether to weaken or strengthen it? We simply leave the conclusion to Hunzhen himself.

Hunzhen hesitated for a moment, but decided to temporarily give up the material inheritance.

"I choose option two."

This improvement in spatial perception is much more significant than before. Compared to the previous explorations of the Void Star before mastering the Law of Fire, it is at least several times better, proving that Hunzhen's previous choice was correct.

Then, he looked at the simulation record, a complex expression flashing in his eyes.

"Brother, it's fine that you endured hardship to survive, but choosing to seduce a mistress while your wife was by your side, getting both of them pregnant, and then being betrayed and killed by your sickly wife—that's just...unbelievable. Was this a family drama or a spy thriller? Your life has certainly been full of ups and downs..."

His beloved wife stayed by his side through thick and thin, but after being betrayed by Zarro, the Sim lost trust in the Zarro family and chose to seek other ways to make a living.

Otherwise, given the current situation, he might not necessarily be betrayed by his wife; instead, he might receive help and successfully escape.

Teshir, on the other hand, once again proved his trustworthiness; the Sims hadn't made a mistake in trusting him.

"Seriously, am I really that charming? How come so many girls are so devoted to me?"

Hunzhen stroked his chin, thinking with deep emotion.

When you're suffering and exhausted, talking about a simulated person creates a captivating moment where you feel completely real and like that person is yourself.

(End of this chapter)