Chapter 1: Prologue: Earth's Twilight

Prologue: Earth's Twilight

August 2023. The oceans of Earth were polluted by nations with no bottom line.

November 2038. Pollution spread across the globe, and large numbers of animals and plants died off. Some creatures that did not die struggled to alter themselves and adapt to the harsh environmental changes; the genes of all manner of flora and fauna began to mutate, and unknown species began to appear.

January 2043. Earth's biodiversity plummeted sharply, the population dropped off a cliff, and average human life expectancy fell to sixty years — and that figure was still falling. All manner of Earth's resources dwindled, and the pressure to survive grew greater and greater.

Because of dwindling resources, the hegemony of a handful of Western nations, and the changes brought to humanity by genetic mutations in living creatures, Earth was plunged into its third great melee. This melee caused the population to decline once more. Fortunately, this war lasted only a short time — it ended after just three years.

The reason the melee ended was not only because everyone understood that continuing to fight would only bring extinction to humanity; more importantly, Earth's mutated fierce beasts were growing ever more numerous.

These mutated fierce beasts were also called gene beasts; their existence had already gravely threatened human survival.

Villages and small towns were continually slaughtered by gene beasts. In order to survive and defend themselves, humanity began to embrace the martial way.

March 2044. The Earth Martial Arts Alliance was established.

Martial cultivation was too slow, and it also depended on aptitude. Some proposed enhancing strength by altering human genes.

February 2046. The Earth Gene Alliance was established.

August 2048. Ocean Gene Company produced its first gene agent — the Half-Ga Gene Solution. This gene solution could alter human genes through injection, granting a person an extra thirty years of life.

In September, the same company once again developed the physical-strength gene Kucasi, which could more than double an ordinary person's strength, turning them into a top-tier external-force martial cultivator.

July 2050. West Wind Gene Company, using electric-eel genes, developed a gene humans could fuse with — the Shinei Gene. This gene gave a person a very high probability of becoming an electricity-discharging ability user.

It was also from this year onward that humanity on Earth fully committed to the path of genes, and the gulf between classes grew wider. This changed not only the landscape of Earth, but also the way humanity lived.

The strong stood on high, while the weak could only toil in the service of the strong, scrambling to survive.