Life Code

Back in his workshop, Chen Mu handed the data on the spatial transition engine and light-speed engine to Xu Jia, asking her to pass them on to the state, before resuming his research.

"Right now, the most important thing for me is to unravel humanity’s Life Equation. Hmm, no, the Life Equation of Chinese people."

Chen Mu was not that noble. He would only help his own country. As for other countries? He could not be bothered to waste his energy on them.

"Very good. Let’s see what the mysteries of life are like in this world!"

He placed two Tablets of Life before him. That was right, two of them—one was an enhanced version replicated by the system, while the other was the original gifted by Asgard.

Both Tablets of Life had the same function: they could analyze the Life Equation of a species. Once that equation was deciphered, it could be edited and modified.

The Asgardians possessed long lifespans, and this treasure was no small part of the reason.

Now, for Chinese people, the Tablet of Life was also a great hope for extending their lifespans, an opportunity to elevate the level of Chinese life itself!

"Then let me see what this so-called Life Equation really looks like."

As a human himself, Chen Mu could naturally use himself as the basis for analysis.

The Tablet of Life resembled a stone stele. Chen Mu first picked up the original Tablet of Life and let a drop of his blood fall onto its center.

Simply put, the Tablet of Life was something that analyzed a species’ genetic information. Once it fully deciphered that species’ Life Equation, one could add or modify things within the original equation.

After Chen Mu dripped his blood onto the Tablet of Life, he sensed an enormous mass of equations appearing before him.

Perhaps it should not have been called a Life Equation. Life Code would have been more accurate.

Looking at the genetic code of humanity within his own body, Chen Mu felt his head swelling.

This was hundreds or even thousands of times more complex than computer programming. It resembled human DNA genetic code, yet it went beyond the physical and biological level—it even involved the level of the soul.

Only after fully understanding it could one be qualified to edit it.

Otherwise, using the Tablet of Life to tamper with it would only create incomprehensible monsters.

"Too complicated. This isn’t just biological DNA code; it also involves corresponding aspects of the soul. It has to be completely deciphered before it can be manipulated!"

Chen Mu was stunned. No wonder Frigga had so generously given this thing to him—it was because of this!

Even with Chen Mu’s current breadth of knowledge, deciphering human genetic code by himself in less than a hundred years was simply a fantasy!

And this was only Chen Mu’s own genetic code!

If he wanted to decipher the genetic code of an entire race, he would need countless experiments. Not only would he need his own samples, but he would also need a great many people to provide genetic code.

Moreover, if Chen Mu only wanted to genetically modify Chinese people among humanity, he would inevitably have to identify the differences between Chinese people and other ethnic groups. The workload would be even greater!

"This is troublesome. It seems using the Tablet of Life to modify humanity isn’t nearly as simple as I imagined."

This was only the task of deciphering humanity’s own code. If he wanted to alter that code, he would also need to master other specific codes!

For example, immortality—lifespans of thousands or even tens of thousands of years. He would have to master the genetic code for that kind of longevity before adding it into the proper place in humanity’s genetic code. He would also have to consider whether the soul could accept it, perhaps even modify the soul itself. Only when everything matched perfectly could it take effect!

It was not as simple as casually finding some genetic code and inserting it into human genes.

That would be courting death. Not to mention that it would most likely cause genetic collapse—even if it succeeded by chance, how could one know what effects that added code would produce?

Whether the outcome would be good or bad was completely unknown!

"This really is like computer programming!"

Different codes had different effects, and the soul level had to be altered as well so that everything fit perfectly.

The sheer workload and difficulty made Chen Mu feel the urge to give up outright.

"Forget it. It looks like the plan to use the original Tablet of Life to analyze human genes can only be abandoned…"

Or rather, temporarily abandoned.

If Chen Mu truly set his mind on it, he could absolutely make use of the Tablet of Life to elevate humanity’s level of life by directly mobilizing the power of the state.

Among China’s 1.3 billion people, there were surely smarter individuals. If the task of deciphering humanity’s Life Equation—or Life Code—were divided into sections and shared among everyone, the analysis would likely be completed quickly.

With the strength of the entire nation, it probably would not take more than a few years, just like the international Human Genome Project. Once the workload was divided, efficiency would naturally rise.

"Still, even if the original version won’t work, I have the enhanced version!"

Setting aside the Tablet of Life brought from Asgard, Chen Mu picked up the one created by the system, which had been upgraded once.

Chen Mu had not changed its appearance. It still looked exactly the same as the original Tablet of Life.

Likewise, Chen Mu drew another drop of his blood and let it fall onto the center of the Tablet of Life.

A Life Equation—or rather, Life Code—similar to the one from before appeared before Chen Mu.

"Holy shit, is this the cracked version? The code even comes with annotations!"

Although its contents were identical to the Life Code displayed by the original Tablet of Life, there was still a difference. The Life Code displayed by Chen Mu’s Tablet of Life included additional notes.

It clearly showed which sections of code represented which abilities.

Different genes corresponded to different traits. Chen Mu had learned that in high school, but here, it was illustrated perfectly.

Different combinations of code represented different abilities.

A creature’s lifespan, strength, and speed were all perfectly labeled at the level of Life Code.

In other words, say humans had a lifespan of one hundred years—the location of that string of code was clearly marked.

If Chen Mu wanted to change that, he only needed to modify it directly.

Of course, he could not alter it recklessly. If he accidentally changed the lifespan to ten years, would that not shorten humanity’s lifespan instead?

Therefore, if he wanted to modify it, he would inevitably need the genetic code for "longevity."

"Amazing. Doesn’t this mean that as long as I master the genetic codes of different species, I can perfectly manifest their abilities in humans?"

If he mastered genes for a cheetah’s agility and a black bear’s strength, could he not perfectly manifest them in humans?

"Find the genes of long-lived species, decipher the code representing longevity, then add it to humanity’s Life Equation. Humans would then gain the trait of longevity!"

That was the function of the Tablet of Life!

"Wait, why does this Life Equation look familiar? Have I seen it somewhere before?"