The reason the Research Institute guards respected Di Yi Ye was naturally because he was the only one who endured the pain of seven Gene Awakenings and persevered. The mockery and amusement stemmed from their belief that anyone who persisted after seven attempts must have a problem. Di Yi Ye's presence also provided the bored guards with some gossip.
Although Di Yi Ye caught the guards' amused glances out of the corner of his eye, he paid them no mind. Even he thought he had a problem for continuing to persist like this. However, he knew very well that even if he couldn't achieve Gene Awakening, he could still train himself and improve his strength. For him, as long as it could increase his strength, he would try it, no matter how painful or how little progress he made.
Di Yi Ye then arrived at Dr. Murong's office. The moment he saw Di Yi Ye arrive, Dr. Murong hurried over, looking him up and down. As he examined Di Yi Ye, he bombarded him with questions: "Little Ye, how do you feel after failing your last Gene Awakening? Have you achieved Condensing Soul? Has your physical quality improved at all? Let me tell you, I've recently acquired several very good Genetic Materials, which might just be what you need for your Gene Awakening!"
"Oh, and I've made some progress in studying your physical condition. I'll tell you about it later."
Dr. Murong began to circle Di Yi Ye, marveling as he did. "Even without achieving Gene Awakening, your Physique is very powerful. You're stronger than Cultivators of the same Realm who have achieved Gene Awakening. Heh, this must be a benefit from your multiple attempts at Gene Awakening?"
"Or perhaps you've actually awakened a part of your genes, but it's just not enough to cause a physical transformation?"
..
Dr. Murong rambled on for several minutes, leaving Di Yi Ye both amused and exasperated. Even after witnessing it so many times, it was still difficult to endure. The researchers nearby nodded at him before displaying expressions of schadenfreude and relief, clearly having been tormented by Dr. Murong's incessant chatter.
Dr. Murong was a robust man in his late forties or early fifties. If not for his researcher's white coat, thick glasses, and disheveled appearance, anyone who saw him would mistake him for a powerful close-combat expert. After all, his nearly two-meter frame was quite tall even among humans who had awakened beast-like genes.
After Dr. Murong finally finished his monologue, Di Yi Ye curiously asked, "Old Man Murong, you mentioned earlier that you'd made some research findings. What were they?"
The address 'Old Man Murong' was not a sign of disrespect from Di Yi Ye. On the contrary, he held Dr. Murong in extremely high regard, placing him on the same level as Old Freak in his heart. This was a title Dr. Murong himself had requested, as he preferred it.
"Oh, I studied your cells and discovered that they can autonomously Devour Qi. Does that count as a finding?"
Dr. Murong didn't keep him in suspense. Seeing Di Yi Ye's face full of confusion and astonishment, he was quite pleased with the reaction. He continued, "Heh, when I discovered this, my expression was just like yours. You truly are as I suspected, my boy..."
"Old man, please tell me what the results of cells automatically Devouring Qi are."
Di Yi Ye interrupted Dr. Murong's nagging, feeling a sense of urgency. He suspected that his inability to achieve Condensing Soul might be related to this.
"The result is that they automatically Devour the Qi you Refine."
Dr. Murong was clearly displeased at being interrupted, but seeing Di Yi Ye's anxious expression, his demeanor changed. "Cells Devouring Qi leads to two results. The first is that the cells become more resilient, much more so than those of ordinary Cultivators. The fact that all your cells are like this is also the reason for your powerful and extraordinary Physique."
"It can make the Physique stronger?!"
After a slight pause, Di Yi Ye's face lit up with joy, as this was good news for him.
Nodding, Dr. Murong said matter-of-factly, "Naturally. After all, Cultivators need to specifically use Qi to Temper their cells to make them strong. Your cells, however, automatically absorb Qi and are constantly absorbing Qi to Temper themselves. This naturally makes your Physique stronger. Moreover, you started Tempering your Physique without even achieving Condensing Soul."
"This can be considered a good thing."
Di Yi Ye murmured to himself, then asked again, "What is the other result?"
"The second result is naturally that you Refine much less Qi, and it's very difficult to concentrate it."
Dr. Murong blurted out, "This is also why you can't achieve Condensing Soul. Heh, if you hadn't started Cultivating from a young age and your speed of breathing in Qi Flow far surpassed that of Cultivators at the same Realm, your body's Qi might have been completely depleted. Forget Condensing Soul, you might have been sucked dry."
"As expected," Di Yi Ye thought, his expression growing solemn. He quickly asked, "Is there any way to resolve this problem?"
Although Devouring Qi made the cells and even the entire Physique stronger, Condensing Soul was crucial for Di Yi Ye, as achieving Condensing Soul and then advancing Realms would significantly boost his strength.
Having finally found the reason for his inability to achieve Condensing Soul, and thinking that since Dr. Murong knew the cause, there was a high chance he could resolve it with his various technological means, Di Yi Ye became excited. He looked at Dr. Murong with great anticipation.
"After I discovered that your cells could Devour Qi, I also tried various methods to stop them from continuing to Devour it. For example, using drugs to inhibit them, having Cultivators with Special Abilities use their powers to stop them, and I even tried altering your cells by changing their genetic structure. However, none of it worked."
Dr. Murong shook his head, ignoring Di Yi Ye's disappointment. His own emotions surged, his eyes bloodshot, a hint of madness in them. "This is the first time I've seen such powerful cells. They can even ignore and Devour drugs that alter genes. Tsk, it's too Peculiar."
"Devour drugs?"
After a slight pause, Di Yi Ye blurted out, "Could it be that my inability to achieve Gene Awakening is also because of this?"
"I think it's likely."
Dr. Murong nodded. "Because the catalysts that trigger Gene Awakening are also devoured by your cells. Naturally, this prevents your hidden genes from manifesting and awakening."
Before Earth was impacted, the scientific community already knew that the genetic information carried by humans was immense, even greater than the information stored by the most advanced computers at the time. It contained the genes of almost all living organisms, and humans could only activate a tiny portion of those genes belonging to humans.
Gene Awakening uses special genes as catalysts to awaken other organisms' genes contained within the human gene map, causing them to manifest. However, the genes acting as catalysts were devoured by Di Yi Ye's cells, thus preventing him from manifesting his hidden genes and achieving Gene Awakening.
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