Starforce Warriors-Chapter 1020: Prehistoric Secrets

Li Xiaofei realized that someone behind the scenes must have deliberately concealed the truth about the so-called perfectly evolved Reaper race that had ascended.

Who could that person be? After thinking it over, there was only one possibility. It was the Ancestor of Wisdom.

That would also explain why the Ancestor of Wisdom had launched the humanization campaign within the Reaper world. It was also why his chosen disciples were obsessed with unraveling the mystery of evolution.

Even the Ancestor of Wisdom himself didn’t seem to know how that ancient King-ranked race had managed to evolve into humans. So he was seeking the truth as well. However, he didn’t want others to discover the secret behind the evolved race.

That was why all the divine statues in the ruins of the various King-ranked clans had been destroyed. Only he would have had the power to do such a thing. Suddenly, Li Xiaofei realized that there was indeed a deep division within the Reaper race.

Not only had the Ancestor of Wisdom and the Ancestor of Strength played elaborate mind games against each other, but even when it came to the other King-ranked clans, the Ancestor of Wisdom had treated them as resources and materials. He had never truly intended to lead the Reaper race toward greatness or glory.

After all, he had even gone so far as to scheme against the Ancestor of Strength. He had even entertained the idea of forming an alliance with the five Human Emperors.

"So, after you split from the Ancestor of Strength, did you go straight to the human world?" asked Li Xiaofei.

Wei Xiaotian nodded. "Of course. It was the best choice to go to the humans from beyond the domain. They weren’t under the Ancestor of Wisdom’s control, and they still carry the original evolutionary mystery. If I wanted to transcend and achieve ultimate evolution, wouldn’t I need to immerse myself in humanity? Didn’t you notice? Even the Ancestor of Wisdom, the root of all this chaos, took on a human form and promoted the transformation of the entire race into humans."

Li Xiaofei thought for a moment, then said, "I have one more question."

Wei Xiaotian gestured for him to speak, fully attentive.

Li Xiaofei asked, "If the human race is the species of perfect ascension, then why did they end up as slaves? Especially in the Ancestor Court star system, where they were utterly reduced to food and subjugation."

Wei Xiaotian responded as if it were only natural, "Who said perfect evolution meant they would evolve to be the strongest?"

"Hmm?" Li Xiaofei paused, startled.

Then realization struck. He had subconsciously assumed that perfect evolution meant becoming the most powerful. But judging from Wei Xiaotian’s words... That wasn’t the case.

Wei Xiaotian said, "Perfect evolution refers to evolving into a flawless species, one that has eliminated the innate shackles and defects within its biology. In other words, it means removing corrupted genes so that the structure of life approaches perfection. It doesn’t mean what most people think, that perfect evolution brings invincibility."

Those words were like a wake-up call. Li Xiaofei suddenly understood why the ancient Reaper King-ranked clans in the Realm of Ruins had failed to reach the end of the path of evolution. Had they misunderstood the purpose of evolution too?

Evolution was not about strength. Perfection did not equate to supremacy. Those ancient Reaper clans had pursued strength as their ultimate evolutionary goal. Thus, they failed and became enemies of Oblivion until they were eventually slaughtered.

Which led to another question. What exactly was Oblivion? Was it correcting the misguided evolutionary paths of the Reaper clans? Did it operate like a virus scanner, destroying everything once it detected a corrupted code in the Realm of Ruins?

"The perfectly evolved race didn’t intend to vanish back then. They had completed their evolution, but they neither ascended nor fled. Quite the opposite, in fact. They wished to pass on their evolutionary methods to the entire Reaper race. Unfortunately, someone didn’t want that to happen and instead turned that entire race into an enemy," said Wei Xiaotian in a calm voice.

"The Ancestor of Wisdom?" Li Xiaofei asked.

Wei Xiaotian shook his head. "No. It was a failed evolutionary product."

Li Xiaofei froze and thought, Then who was it?

"A nobody," Wei Xiaotian said, "who wanted to be the only successful evolutionary being in the universe. Sadly, though his ambition soared higher than the heavens, his fate was thinner than paper. He vanished in the vast torrent of history without even leaving behind a name. Yet his existence completely changed the fate of the Reaper race because..."

Here, Wei Xiaotian paused for a moment before continuing. "Because he ignited the wildfire in the Ancestor of Wisdom’s heart."

Li Xiaofei pondered those words carefully as he slowly began to grasp their meaning. Beside him, Lin Beichen listened in silence.

However, the Sword Immortal did not seem to be listening with the same attentiveness as Li Xiaofei. Instead, he looked like a bystander munching on drama. Somehow, he had even produced a handful of melon seeds, cracking them open one by one as he listened.

Wei Xiaotian continued, "Those who possess only wisdom often make decisions easily, always seeking profit and avoiding harm. They may appear rational, but in truth, they lack spine. That’s why, the Ancestor of Wisdom didn’t choose his own people back then, he chose Oblivion."

Chose Oblivion?

Li Xiaofei pressed, "What do you mean?"

"The Ancestor of Wisdom hoped to find a path to eternal life and invincibility within Oblivion. Once the Reaper race completed perfect evolution, rising to power again would take countless years." Wei Xiaotian explained, "So he aligned himself with Oblivion, and turned his blade against his own people... besides, his ambition had already been ignited by that nameless one."

The ancient Reaper race that had undergone perfect evolution, now known as the human race, had indeed become the most exceptional lifeform in the universe. They could leave the Realm of Ruins and, through cultivation, achieve immortality.

But that path was filled with uncertainty. They might die along the way, and they might stop just short of reaching the final realm. The ancient Reaper clans had been unimaginably powerful before evolution. But after evolving into humans, everything had to start from scratch. It was like wiping the slate clean and starting over from level one.

Such a path of evolution made the Ancestor of Wisdom hesitate. How could he possibly accept giving up his current identity and status and abandon the position of a lofty progenitor, only to reset himself as one among the masses and start all over again.

So, he chose Oblivion. He submitted to Oblivion and turned against his own people who had achieved perfect evolution. In order to conceal the truth, he wiped out every ancient clan member in the Realm of Ruins who knew, or even half-knew, what had really happened. These were the very ancient clans whose lingering wills Li Xiaofei had encountered.

Those clans had tried to follow the human path. The idols they worshipped had been shaped in human form. Still, the Ancestor of Wisdom, wielding the power of Oblivion, silenced them all.

He shattered the statues as well. Every record and remnant of the perfectly evolved race, of humanity, had been erased by his hand. Those ruins, instead of preserving truth, became instruments of control and caution to the Reaper race, left behind by the Ancestor of Wisdom.

Li Xiaofei was deeply shaken. He couldn’t help but ask, "Is Oblivion alive? Does it have its own will? Since the Ancestor of Wisdom once submitted to it, why did he later break away?"

After all, the Ancestor of Wisdom had openly stated his desire to ally with the five Human Emperors in a fight against Oblivion. Which meant Li Xiaofei was sure that the Ancestor of Wisdom had turned against Oblivion completely.

Moreover, with his promotion of humanization and his disciples’ study of evolutionary mysteries, it was clear that he had returned to the path of evolution. Yet he didn’t seem willing to follow the same path humanity had once walked.

Instead, he was looking for a shortcut, a way to transform himself in a short time without having to reset his cultivation and start over from nothing. He wanted everything for himself.