The Omniscient

Chapter 39: Beginning Evolution

Huang Ji researched late into the night before finally going to bed. The next day, after practicing his martial arts in the morning and having lunch, he returned to continue his experiments.

In just one day, Huang Ji had made significant progress. His research methods were notably aggressive. First, he extracted a common flu virus from Tang Yan's blood. Then, using his exceptional medical skills, he quickly determined what kind of medicine would be absorbed by the human body and effectively eliminate the virus. Once this medicine successfully countered the flu, Huang Ji unlocked corresponding predictive information.

With this information, Huang Ji could now evaluate the effectiveness of any medicine against any virus. It was similar to performing random movements and instantly knowing their energy efficiency. Leveraging his knowledge, Huang Ji began experimenting with various new drug combinations, gauging their success rates, effectiveness, and deficiencies.

This approach almost eliminated the need for clinical trials. The reason it was only "almost" was that even with the information he gleaned, Huang Ji couldn't fully grasp the medicine's practical effects. For example, what does a 10% treatment effectiveness feel like? He could sense it faintly but not intuitively.

To bridge this gap, Huang Ji synthesized the medicine and injected it into Tang Yan, carefully observing the results. Only then could he conclude, Oh, I see. This has little effect—hardly better than taking nothing at all.

When it comes to viruses, a medicine with only 10% effectiveness is essentially useless, possibly even harmful, as viruses excel at mutating. Temporary suppression might lead to initial improvement, but the virus could retaliate more fiercely later. Thus, Huang Ji kept testing new drug formulations and soon developed one with an 86% effectiveness rate.

What others might take three to five years to achieve, Huang Ji completed in just 17 hours.

"That was unexpectedly fast... I set myself a target of twenty days," Huang Ji remarked, looking at the latest version of the medicine. "And yet, I finished it in just 17 hours?"

He felt a tinge of anticlimax, as if the excitement had ended just as it began. Despite the medicine being only 86% effective—not perfect—it was sufficient. His research revealed that a so-called "miracle drug" only needed to reach 60% effectiveness to cure a particular virus. The differences between effectiveness levels were primarily in recovery speed and side effects.

"Every drug has side effects," Huang Ji mused.

• Medicines with an effectiveness of 1–50% have varying levels of suppression, akin to emergency heart pills—they don't cure but are still useful.
• At 60%, the drug can completely cure the illness, albeit slowly and with side effects.
• At 70%, recovery is faster, and side effects are milder.
• At 80%, side effects are nearly negligible.
• At 90%, the medicine acts instantly, with no side effects, making it a true "super drug."

"As for 100%? That must be the so-called perfect treatment—fusing with the virus. Instead of causing harm, it would yield benefits, advancing genetic evolution."

Huang Ji continued working toward a better drug but hit a bottleneck after two more days of effort. He couldn’t create anything more effective.

"I must be approaching this the wrong way," he reflected. "Simple chemical drugs alone can't achieve a perfect fusion. Even if I identify the missing compounds, the combinations are endless, making it impossible to devise the formula in a short time."

He realized that his approach was overly crude. "Viruses evolve through countless cycles of mutation and adaptation to the human body, gradually reducing their lethality. Over time, they can become beneficial, integrating into the host's genetic sequence."

Viruses entering the human body start at "level 1." When they fully integrate into the genome, they reach "level 100." While viruses mutate rapidly, this progression still takes time. Mutations occur randomly during replication, with natural selection favoring the more adaptive changes.

In reality, viruses rarely reach level 100 due to the inherent "kill-or-be-killed" conflict with the immune system. A virus that mutates too quickly might kill its host at level 50, while a slower one might be destroyed by the immune system at level 10. Additional variables—such as the host's death, effective treatments, or vaccines—further limit viral evolution.

For a virus to coexist harmoniously with its host, both sides must reach a delicate balance. This is exceedingly rare and requires countless iterations over thousands or even millions of years. Even so, as the virus becomes less harmful, it can silently spread across a species. When it finally reaches "level 100," the entire population could experience a collective genetic evolution in just a few generations.

"Trying to force fusion with a level 50 virus using drugs alone is unrealistic," Huang Ji concluded. "Instead, I should suppress the virus while nurturing it, letting it mature to a harmless state."

He devised a plan: infect himself with the virus, allowing it to replicate and attack his cells. While his immune system would naturally try to eliminate it, Huang Ji would intervene—suppressing the virus when it grew too strong and dampening his immune system when it became overly aggressive. This would prevent antibody formation while keeping the infection mild, akin to a "persistent cold."

Reviewing the hundreds of medicines he had experimented with, Huang Ji reconsidered those he had previously dismissed as ineffective. Medicines with less than 60% effectiveness had seemed useless—why bother with something that only temporarily suppressed the virus, only for it to come back stronger? But now, he realized their potential: these "weak medicines" were perfect for controlled viral adaptation.

By combining several low-efficiency drugs into a comprehensive treatment plan, Huang Ji created a regimen of 20 alternating therapies.

"Surprisingly, twenty drugs with 10% effectiveness each achieve an overall efficiency of 89%!" he exclaimed, realizing he was on the right track. He continued refining the approach until, on the evening of May 3rd, he developed a 99% effective treatment plan.

At the same time, Huang Ji understood what a truly perfect solution entailed.

Adaptation to circumstances, places, and individuals…

A solution with 100% efficiency can only exist for specific individuals. There is no universal, perfect method that works equally well for everyone.

Huang Ji’s Inner Canon follows the same principle. For Huang Ji himself, it is an unparalleled martial art. However, even he must continuously adjust it to suit his evolving needs. If anyone else were to learn it, its effectiveness would inevitably decrease.

The same applies to the "Gene Fusion Drug." Each person would require a custom version of the drug. When it comes to genetics, there is no margin for error. The idea of a universal gene therapy that works identically for everyone, as seen in novels, would be akin to an absurdly rigid and "forcibly locked" effect.

Huang Ji needed to tailor his medicine to the specific mutations of the virus, crafting solutions that perfectly fit the circumstances at the time. His strategy was to avoid completely eradicating the virus, instead leaving remnants to "seed" future growth. He would watch as the virus strengthened, then strike again to leave another trace behind.

Through repeated cycles of destruction and rebirth, Huang Ji advanced the virus’ evolution, aided by a specially designed adaptation accelerator tailored to his body. This process drastically shortened the time needed for the virus to become beneficial. Step by step, Huang Ji nurtured the virus within himself, ultimately perfecting and integrating its refined genetic material into his genome.

His approach was deliberate: harness the virus, tame it, and ultimately extract its evolutionary potential. This carefully controlled super-evolution would integrate fragments of the virus’ genetic code into his own sequence.

Acting immediately upon his realization, Huang Ji preemptively foresaw the likely results of each step he would take. He began to sense the virus’ plasticity, growth potential, and compatibility with human genetics.

Not all viruses, Huang Ji noted, were suited for such a transformation. Evolution isn’t exclusive to humanity; all species require it. However, only a tiny fraction of viruses are suitable for humans, and even within that subset, compatibility varies greatly.

After comparing his available samples, Huang Ji determined that H1N1 was currently the best candidate. It ranked 36th globally in terms of genetic compatibility and growth potential.

"Let’s begin!" Huang Ji declared.

He willingly infected himself with H1N1. Based on real-time conditions, he spent 25 minutes meticulously designing a targeted drug, synthesized it in two hours, and immediately injected it into himself.

He then formulated and administered a personalized adaptation accelerator, subtly directing the virus’ mutations to align with his body.

"This process can be divided into three stages, each lasting at least 30 days," Huang Ji analyzed.

• Stage One: Reduce the virus’ transmissibility, limiting it to bloodborne transmission while eliminating all other pathways.
• Stage Two: Eliminate nearly all complications, leaving only mild cold symptoms. During this time, immunity would decrease, making the body highly susceptible to other viruses. However, Huang Ji was unfazed: "Let them all come! Unless a single virus possesses extraordinary potential, each one will contribute only a small genetic fragment. Even if they fuse, the overall changes won’t be drastic. On the contrary, the more fragments, the better the result."
• Stage Three: This final phase would leave him almost asymptomatic, merely awaiting the complete integration of the genetic fragments.

The entire adaptation process would take approximately three months. Upon completing the gene fusion, Huang Ji would undergo instant evolution.

Even now, Huang Ji could already see his projected lifespan increasing dramatically.

This was the theoretical maximum lifespan after evolution—178 years!

…

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