The Secret of Yuanye

As he slept, some information stored in his mind flashed past, while changes were taking place inside Xilin.

He opened his eyes again two days later. Instead of going to Old Daiwen's shop, Xilin went to his master Yuanye's home.

Yuanye had found Xilin in the woods west of town. Back then, high-energy radiation from an unusual stellar flare had caused poor harvests on several nearby planets. The price of nutritional supplements had skyrocketed, spelling disaster for the poor. Many starved to death, while children their families could no longer feed were sold to the wealthy in the prosperous city districts. Xilin had been one of the children who hadn't been sold in time. That day, a brawl had broken out in the woods over food. When Yuanye arrived, the only survivor was Xilin, still swaddled in a hollow tree.

Yuanye was only an F-class Seven Yuan Gene Level, yet he lived better than D-class people and was even stronger than they were. He taught Xilin a set of exercises that improved on the routines Xilin had seen on television in many ways, including in their biomechanics. Xilin later used those exercises to hunt and kill. Yuanye had said the routine was originally adapted from martial techniques, with its violence removed and its movements made more peaceful. But through practice, Xilin had gradually restored the parts that had been taken out.

Yuanye died when Xilin was twelve. No one knew how old he had been. Xilin only knew that his master was no ordinary man; he knew nothing else about him.

Every month, Xilin came by to tidy Yuanye's home. The furnishings weren't shabby, but gave the place a peaceful, unpretentious air, much like Yuanye himself—quiet and unassuming. Though he had no shortage of money, he had been content to live unnoticed in this poor neighborhood.

A huge tree, more than twenty meters tall, stood in the backyard. Its vast canopy shaded most of the courtyard. Yuanye had once said that there might be only one tree like it in the entire Star System.

A wooden rocking chair rested quietly beneath the tree. Yuanye had loved lying in it and talking to himself. Whenever the chair rocked, it creaked, like the gears of time turning.

Xilin walked over to the tree and took out the crystal-like pendant hanging around his neck.

"Master, Hena and I have come to see you."

Yuanye and Hena were the only people in Xilin's world. Old Daiwen barely counted as one, too. But now Yuanye and Hena were both gone, and Old Daiwen was about to begin a new life of his own.

Xilin sat with his back against the tree. Tiny flecks of light filtered through the leaves, but gave off little warmth.

"I'm alone again."

Xilin raised his arm and, following the information in his mind, activated the control chip. He looked at his hands. They appeared no different from before, yet could easily punch through a ten-centimeter-thick steel plate, just like that perverted old man had effortlessly crushed the Alloy Dagger.

He had barely begun to digest the information recorded in his mind. He only had a basic understanding of things, such as controlling his muscles like he had just done, and activating or silencing his genes...

One thing worth mentioning was that, after the information had been integrated into the chip, Xilin's Gene Type had reached B-class. Before closing his eyes, Yuanye had told him that if his Gene Type ever reached C-class, he could open the box in Yuanye's room. If it didn't, he must never open it.

Xilin got up and entered the room where Yuanye had once lived. He opened a cabinet and found a small box inside that looked as if it were made of wood. An invisible protective barrier surrounded it, designed to test the user's Gene Type. When Xilin had still been F-class, it had flung him away.

He placed his hand against the transparent barrier again. A faint glow spread across it, then faded. Xilin took out the box. The key to opening it was his genetic information: a dual password drawn from his genome and mitochondrial DNA.

Click—

The box opened.

Yuanye's image appeared, clear despite being no larger than a palm.

"Xilin, if you can open this box, it means your Gene Type has reached at least C-class, and you're still under fifty."

Xilin raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Yuanye to set an age limit, too.

"Xilin, if you plan to venture into space, then go ahead. If you don't, close the box and never open it again. That's my command as your master!"

Xilin didn't move.

After a while, the image flickered, then came back into focus.

"Since you've chosen to venture into space, do one thing for your master. Take the ring in the box with you. If it ever responds, take me home..."...

As Xilin listened to Yuanye's voice, he couldn't pretend he wasn't shocked. The ring was a Spatial Ring. Such technology couldn't be produced on the planet where Xilin lived; only the super-rich in the prosperous central districts could get their hands on one. They were among the most extravagant luxuries around. Yet Yuanye truly owned one, and Xilin could tell that it was crafted with far greater precision and complexity than the Spatial Ring pendants owned by those wealthy people.

The more Yuanye revealed, the more Xilin realized how extraordinary his master's identity must be.

"That tree in the courtyard is called a Fuji Tree. The Fuji leaf is my family crest. Up-tree Fuji—the Yuanye Family. Since I came to this region, I haven't heard of them again..."

As a child, Yuanye had been mischievous enough to take his family's spacecraft for a spin. He had accidentally entered the "Devil's Zone," where a wormhole suddenly appeared and swallowed his craft. He ended up in this unfamiliar star sector. After his spacecraft was destroyed and he drifted from place to place, he eventually reached X-C362, Brown Earth Star—this very planet.

Yuanye hadn't explained many of the details, but Xilin could guess the general story.

"Until the ring resonates, never mention the Yuanye Family or Up-tree Fuji lightly..."

After giving his instructions, the image disappeared, leaving behind a wooden-looking ring.

The ring looked a little large, so Xilin slipped it onto his left thumb. The moment he put it on, the wooden ring transformed into a curling, leaf-shaped green pattern that clung tightly to his skin. It looked less like a ring than a tattoo, and he couldn't pull it off. No matter how hard he rubbed it, it was just like rubbing a tattoo that wouldn't come off.

Damn, if he'd known, he wouldn't have put it on his thumb! Who got a curly leaf tattooed on their thumb?!

Following Yuanye's instructions, Xilin dug up his master's coffin from beneath the Fuji Tree in the courtyard. They hadn't used electric cremation back then. According to Yuanye's will, they had placed him in a coffin made from Fuji Tree wood and buried him beside the tree. Only Xilin and Hena knew about it.

Without disturbing the coffin much, Xilin pointed the leaf pattern on his thumb at it. Green light flashed, and the coffin was drawn into the ring. Xilin could sense where it was inside, and he also knew the ring had plenty of room left—enough to store supplies for a long journey.

After putting everything in the courtyard back in order, Xilin gave the hanging pendant a gentle kiss, glanced at the leaf pattern on his thumb, and smiled. "The three of us are going to venture out!"