Above The Sky
Chapter 177 - 177 166 The Possibility of Abnormality 13

177: Chapter 166: The Possibility of Abnormality (1/3) 177: Chapter 166: The Possibility of Abnormality (1/3) “This is the first time I’ve seen a Terra person catch a cold and have a fever, and it turned out to be my own brother.”

After Ian fed him the medicine, he reached out again, pressing on Elan’s forehead.

The aquamarine Origin Quality flowed, and in the boy’s eyes, even a silver halo circulated: “Although it’s not very serious, Elan has always been very healthy, what exactly is going on?”

When Ian got home, he noticed that something was off with Elan right away.

He immediately used Foresight View and the Silver Chip for a dual scan, which confirmed that Elan had a fever.

Fetching the medicine, brewing it, and performing a simple alchemical purification.

Ian’s actions were smooth and practiced, showcasing the exceptional basic skill of an alchemist.

And indeed, after Elan drank the nearly alchemical potion of fever-reducing concoction, the fever was indeed curbed; at the very least, his complexion didn’t look as uncomfortable anymore.

“Brother?” In the middle of it all, Elan woke up groggily once, trying to sit up and greet him, but was quickly pushed back down by Ian to continue lying in bed.

“Rest well, and don’t move around.”

After finishing these emergency treatments, Ian began a more in-depth examination.

With Origin Quality, Spirit Energy, and Core Chip working together, it didn’t take long for him to find the root of the problem.

The result left him with mixed feelings.

“Mutation…

or should I say, a partial Bloodline Reversion?”

Ian’s parents’ lineage had produced Sublimators, as well as those with genetic anomalies; overall, their inherited talents could not be considered ordinary.

His uncle Ossenna’s ‘Abnormal Bone’ was a mutated form of the Sublimation Organ ‘Iron Bone’, which couldn’t develop properly without sufficient nutrients and had incorrectly grown due to an incomplete Origin Structure.

Theoretically, as Terra People boast perfect genes, even hundreds of years of sibling interbreeding shouldn’t result in any anomalies.

Ian was also quite skeptical about the possibility of mutations caused by radiation exposure.

From his current understanding, if Terra People were to receive a bit more enhancement, space might not pose any issue to their physical forms, and even decades of cosmic radiation might not cause mutations.

So, the genetic radiation diseases he had surmised earlier were, in fact, unlikely to occur in Terra People.

So what, then, was the cause of these mutations?

Drawing from some bio-alchemical texts and his past life experience, Ian boldly speculated that the mutation might be the result of the hasty interbreeding among ‘Ancestor Sublime Beings’ during the early days of modern Terra civilization, in the Lost Epoch.

Back then, there were not as many taboos among Sublimators, and nobody was aware of the mutations.

Many Sublimators with different bloodlines intermarried, resulting in a multitude of chimeric mutants.

These early mutants, beast-human hybrids, and even the legendary myriad monsters and Alien Forms, some of which possessed incredibly powerful abilities, even became the earliest inspirations for the True Form path.

But the vast majority were twisted and weak, yet had parents with powerful abilities to protect them from natural selection.

These altered bloodlines were passed down, interbreeding and mixing further, contaminating the gene pool of early humans.

As is well known—at least among Sublimators—the origins of various countries are the major refuges from the Calamity of Heavenly Fall.

At that time, human numbers were sparse, and once the mutated bloodlines mixed in, within a few generations almost everyone had a trace of it.

Today, human genes are no longer flawless but contain many scattered fragments of bloodline genes…

This could lead to a genetic catastrophe that might prevent humans from ever reaching the higher stages of the Path of Sublimation.

Because of this, whether nobility or commoners, interbreeding between different bloodlines is considered a great taboo.

The breeding among nobility also strictly adheres to relevant codes, and even discourages producing offspring without clear bloodline features.

That’s because the offspring of nobles who possess dormant bloodline features, if they were to intermarry with ordinary people, might result in the incorrect manifestation of recessive genetic factors, causing second-generation or multi-generational derivative mutations.

Ossenna’s type of mutation is a classic example of multi-generational derivative mutation.

For these reasons, nobles who do not follow the bloodline codes are seen as barbaric and subjected to punishment or even expulsion.

And people with mutations are absolutely not allowed to marry and have children, to prevent further contaminating the already crumbling human gene pool.

However, at the end of the day, what is called mutation is essentially the presence of fragments of the Sublimation Bloodline that failed to properly develop due to various reasons—it is not a total curse, but rather an incomplete and errant blessing.

“Uncle Ossenna’s cheap Abnormal Bone is because of the lack of adequate nutrition in his youth.

It resulted in incomplete development where the Iron Bone was confined only to his legs and even inhibited the growth of normal legs, forming that peculiar carapace-like tumor.”

Ian extended his hand, pressing it on Elan’s left shoulder, his gaze deep, “The left shoulder, also Iron Bone—It seems our ancestors among the White Folks must have had a very strong precursor who cultivated a Bloodline Inheritance related to Iron Bone, and our generation has seen a sporadic occurrence of Bloodline Reversion.”

In essence, Terra Continent was no different from Earth.

For the past eighteen hundred years, whose ancestors were not survivors of the Lost Epoch, the resilient and fortunate who belonged to that batch?

This was also the reason why nearly all ethnicities across Whole Terra had mutations.

Because everyone’s ancestors were among those initial Sublimators and their descendants who intermarried with them.

“Fortunately, Elan has been well-nourished, at least he won’t end up mutated like Ossenna, where insufficient nutrition led to incomplete development…

The most dangerous phase has passed, from now on I just need to be a little cautious, and it won’t lead to further mutation.”

Heaving a sigh of relief, Ian now understood the importance of eating, drinking, and sleeping well—Healthy and regular diet and sleep could even suppress mutations!

Elan’s fever was, in essence, a slow self-transformation causing the release of cellular energy…

Thanks to Ian’s soothing with Origin Quality, the boy had calmed down, and it was estimated that by tomorrow morning the fever would have completely subsided.

“Eight years old, indeed a period of rapid growth—This must also be the cause of most mutations in the past.”

Rising to his feet, Ian boiled another pot of water to place by Elan’s side for later use, brought over a chair and a blanket, and prepared to rest by his brother’s side.

The youth was not nervous at heart, on the contrary, he was somewhat curious, “Another peak period for mutation is adolescence.

I can restrain the mutations of childhood, but the brain development during adolescence is extremely intense, and if I force suppression, it might greatly impact Elan’s intelligence.”

“It seems that I either have to cultivate in Elan a Bloodline Inheritance related to ‘Iron Bone’ or ‘Crystal Bone’ like I have before he turns fourteen, or obtain an Alchemical Potion that can normally suppress the mutations.”

“In this process, even for treating Elan, I’ll need to research more into relevant topics.”

Today, Ian came home intending to draft a preliminary plan for adding new Sublimation Organs to the True Form of the Wave Singer, as well as to think about how much research funding and Demonic Beast Materials he would need to get from Elder Prude tomorrow.

Now, he didn’t feel like taking care of Elan was a waste of time.

Not to mention the boy is his brother, the issue of mutations had also given him some inspiration.

“The conversion between Bloodline and True Form must lead to organ redundancy, which in turn causes mutations…

Conversely, is it possible that controlled, targeted mutations could also be a method to increase Sublimation Organs?”

After all, as far as Ian knew, many of the unique Sublimation Organs in the later stages of powerful Sublimation Inheritances require an elevation of life’s essence—whether it was by using high-energy radiation to induce them or by completely spiritualizing and proliferating, these seem like controllable and powerful mutation traits?

“Moreover, will I also have some mutations in me?”

“Sublimation must proceed, mutations must be studied, this is what’s healthy.”

With these thoughts in mind, Ian sat in the chair and, after confirming Elan was sleeping soundly, he also slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning.

“Brother, I’m sorry, it seems like I fell asleep at the table yesterday…”

While frying eggs and fish in the morning, Ian heard the patter of footsteps behind him, then felt the energetic charge of his little brother bumping into the back of his legs—Elan appeared not to have realized that he had collapsed from a high fever and thought he had just fallen asleep because he was sleepy.

The youth suppressed a smile, then teased Elan, “This is what happens when you don’t eat properly and exercise regularly, you get sleepy studying at night!”

“Today you’re being punished to eat an extra egg, and you have to finish the fish bones too!”

“Mhm, okay…”

Turning his head, Ian stretched out his hand to rub Elan’s embarrassed and pitiful little face, then patted his head, “Go exercise, and then wash up.

I’ll make lunch for you when I come back at noon, and if you’re tired, just sleep, you need more rest recently.”

“Okay~”

Elan obediently went to exercise and refresh himself, and after eating breakfast together, he continued his studies and play while Ian left to visit Elder Prude at the Elder’s Hall.

This time, he needed to request Demonic Beast Materials, inform the elder of the hostility and related speculations he had seen in Patrick, and ask a question about an ancestor of the White Folks.

Or rather, he wanted to know.

Back when they were still in the Imperial Capital, what was the inheritance that their branch of the White Folks had cultivated.