Every little green vial was marked with the civilization and name from which it originated. Ye Chen snatched up these vials, walked into the cultivation chamber, closed the door, and sat down on the metal bed. He grouped the vials belonging to the same civilization together. Although there were genes from 36 peak Divine Emperor powerhouses, there were actually only eight civilizations represented.

Ye Chen filtered them, first placing the five gene vials from the lowest-ranked civilization, the Heaven-Hate Civilization, before him. After scrutinizing them for a moment, he lined up the five vials one after another and began circulating the energy within his body, slowly unfolding the Myriad Heavens God-Melting Art.

Kaka-kaka~~

The tendons, bones, and flesh within his body slowly wriggled. Ye Chen’s eyes instantly turned blood-red, like a ferocious, savage beast. Tiny bumps rose across his skin, and his internal structure of tendons and flesh rapidly fractured and healed just as quickly.

Rumble~

In the rune space, the gray airflow above the sky suddenly began to sink into a vortex, stirring the spatial currents throughout the entire region. This sight startled Hen Li Tian and the others on the starship deck, causing them all to look up. Especially the old man with the green runes, who stood in the main control room watching the bizarre external changes; his heart hammered wildly, and his eyes were filled with disbelief. "What is happening? This, this..."

He had resided in this space for countless eons and had never witnessed such an uncanny situation, nor had he ever heard of such strangeness occurring in an alternate dimension. One had to know that even breakthroughs in cultivation realm could not draw upon the infusion of the Divine Power Ocean within an alternate dimension; one had to leave the dimension to undergo the breakthrough process.

Even augmenting secret techniques, such as those from the Yan Mystery Codex, could not be executed within an alternate dimension. For such an anomaly to appear now, there was only one possibility: the space was about to be destroyed!

The old man with the green runes reacted swiftly, raising his voice to a roar. "Quickly, into the cabin! Help resist! I am activating the energy shield!"

Hen Li Tian and everyone else immediately rushed into the cabin. The rune starship projected a protective shield, ready at any moment to counter a spatial collapse. Just then, within the churning black vortex of the sky, as the old man with the green runes and the others stood ready, a purple light slowly emerged, followed by the gradual appearance of a massive eyeball!

When the old man with the green runes and the others saw this eye, their hearts clenched violently, their eyelids twitched, and their minds were pierced as if by needles, turning blank.

This purple eyeball rotated slightly, gazing upon the rune starship with a hint of malevolence. It seemed to see Ye Chen cultivating in the chamber in an instant. Its gaze flickered momentarily, and then it slowly vanished. The surrounding, inwardly collapsing gray-white airflow gradually returned to normal; everything was as it should be.

The bodies of the old man with the green runes and the others trembled, and they quickly came back to their senses. They exchanged bewildered glances, looking around with strange expressions.

"Wasn't I on the deck?"

"How did I end up here?"

"This is too strange."

Everyone frowned, harboring some doubts, but ultimately shook their heads and dispersed.

Ye Chen, seated in the cultivation chamber, stared fixedly at the emerald-green gene vials before him. With a flick of his finger, he used his internal force to open the stoppers. He raised his hand and extended it, circulating the energy mixed with his flesh and meridians down his arm to execute the first form: "Foundation Receiving Style"!

His arm trembled slightly, and a blood-red horn slowly protruded from the skin. This appendage was soft and tiny, scarlet as fresh blood, and it extended like a nimble snake toward the gene vials. Following the final gene vial, it probed inside. The gene cells placed within were swiftly adhered to by this blood-colored tentacle and slowly collected.

The blood-colored tentacle did not stop there. It next reached for the second, then the third gene vial, continuing until it reached the last vial belonging to Hen Li Tian.

Having adhered to five gene cells consecutively, the blood-colored tentacle slowly retracted. This small appendage now held a concentration of Ye Chen's vital essence and sinews. As it drew back into his skin, the five gene cells slowly dissolved and flowed within his body. Ye Chen then activated the second form of the Myriad Heavens God-Melting Art: "Foundation Refining Style"!

As the internal energy circulated along his meridians, it agitated countless blood cells and somatic cells. He directed the five gene cells to be absorbed separately. Through the special sensing mechanism of the Myriad Heavens God-Melting Art, he could discern which of the five gene cells was the most potent, ultimately locking his target onto the one furthest to the east.

Ye Chen closed his eyes. His skeletal structure forced the other four gene cells out of his body through his pores, leaving only that single gene cell. Countless vital essence and bone marrow flowed toward it, initiating a deep-level genetic modification.

Kaka! Ye Chen’s fists cracked audibly. Cold sweat drenched his forehead, and his entire body trembled. Inside, it felt like being burned by fire and frozen by ice—an indescribable discomfort and excruciating pain, as if countless ants were gnawing at him. Every cell vibrated, and his consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse. Fortunately, his mental fortitude was profound, allowing him to forcibly endure the intense agony!

Ye Chen gritted his teeth, recalling that the Myriad Heavens God-Melting Art stated the first layer could be cultivated by those in the Pseudo-God Realm, and the second layer by those in the God Realm. If he had cultivated this art while still in the Pseudo-God Realm, he likely would have passed out from the pain.

Ye Chen did not know that when Wan Renxiong left this secret manual, he himself would pass out every time he practiced it. However, Ye Chen, having endured the torment of the apocalypse and subsequent trials in the ancient world, possessed a hardened mind that prevented him from losing consciousness.

The cells within his body and the minute cellular genes quietly fused. The code of the human body was rapidly rewritten. Segments of the genetic sequences that originally belonged to him were, under the catalysis of the Myriad Heavens God-Melting Art, partially reformatted according to the structure of these minute cellular genes. During this process, Ye Chen’s internal tissues churned violently, emitting tearing pain.

In the realm of science, the human body is a treasury. Countless scientists once attempted to crack the code of the human body, all returning empty-handed or managing only to decipher simpler codes, such as those governing emotion, but never the genetic code. Even later cloning efforts were merely replication, not a complete deciphering of the gene's programming structure.

Replication is not difficult; it was achievable even with the technology of the Earth era. But to decipher the programming of the genes—to fully unlock it—would allow humanity to create life!

To reach the level of creation!

This would be an epic breakthrough in the field of science, signifying immense importance!

However, after flourishing for countless ages in the ancient world, someone had finally unlocked this human genetic code, resolving the very essence of life. But to alter an existing genetic program was something unimaginable. The Myriad Heavens God-Melting Art possessed exactly this capability!

Ye Chen used the immense energy of his body as sappers, forging his internal flesh and transforming it into gene cells, rapidly rewriting his original genetic structure according to the methods dictated by the Myriad Heavens God-Melting Art.

Kaka~

His bones let out crisp cracking sounds. Ye Chen clenched his fists, drawing his body into a ball, gritting his teeth and staring fiercely at the metal bed before him. He held his breath, his face flushed crimson, sweat pouring down him in torrents. He forced himself not to cry out in agony, for the moment he relaxed his tension, the internal pain would surge over him like a tidal wave, drowning him!

Through this ordeal, Ye Chen felt his consciousness gain tangible refinement. His eyes, filled with anguish, flashed with alternating red and white light, subtly revealing the pattern of an Yin-Yang fish rotating within.

Time flowed...

After about 20 hours, Ye Chen felt the searing pain, like being consumed by fire, slowly subside. His entire consciousness gradually felt lighter. After a while, his flesh seemed to be nourished by sweet spring water, rapidly restoring its vitality. Every cell was brimming with vigor and energy, pulsing with surging power!

Ye Chen clearly sensed two streams of energy appearing in his consciousness: on the left, one stream branched into seven smaller streams circulating in a circle—the Seven Emotions talent from the Spiritual Civilization.

The right side was a stream of black, gaseous energy, filled with hatred and fury—the Heaven-Hate talent from the Heaven-Hate Civilization!

After his body recovered its mobility, Ye Chen immediately stood up and walked to the adjacent practice room next to the spacious cultivation chamber. He stomped his foot on the ground and roared, "Hate Heaven!"

Whoosh~

His clothes billowed without wind, his long white hair flew wildly, and his eyes were as inky black and deep as a pool. Wisps of chilling killing intent drifted from his pores, and a battle-ax slowly materialized above his forehead!

The Heaven-Hate Battle-Axe!

Ye Chen roared, and his skin became as hard as stone. He punched the ground, causing the solid metal floor to slightly indent. Yet, his fist felt no pain at all, as if it had struck cotton.

Ye Chen’s eyes brightened. He quickly retracted his fist and carefully examined his body, realizing that his entire skin had become taut, as if swords and blades could not injure it.

"Is this the Heaven-Hate talent from the Heaven-Hate Civilization?" Ye Chen murmured softly. "I didn't expect its power to be this terrifying, capable of augmenting one's battle body and increasing physical hardness by tenfold!"

A tenfold increase in physical strength would normally not concern Ye Chen too much, as he mostly relied on secret techniques in battle. However, trapped in this electromagnetic storm zone, the enhancement of his battle body meant that the duration he could endure in the electromagnetic zone had increased tenfold!

If he could only last two hours before, he could now last twenty hours!

A surge of inexpressible joy filled Ye Chen’s heart. He quickly turned back and sat down on the ** (bed/couch), swiftly taking out the second batch of gene cells. After checking them, he selected the gene cells from the Epic Civilization!

The Epic Civilization had a total of four small emerald-green gene cell vials from which he could choose. Since they were all from peak Divine Emperors, any talent Ye Chen acquired would directly be in the highest awakened state!

If he had plundered someone in the Demigod Realm, even if he obtained the civilization’s talent, it would only be in the initial or even unawakened state, requiring him to cultivate arduously himself.

"I wonder what the talent from the Epic Civilization is like!"

Ye Chen clenched his fists and rapidly circulated the Myriad Heavens God-Melting Art. His body once again plunged into the excruciating pain he had just experienced. Ye Chen gritted his teeth, using the "Foundation Receiving Style" to extract the gene cells from the various emerald vials and draw them into his body.